


Crossroads

by dsa_archivist



Category: The X-Files, due South
Genre: Crossover, Drama, Gen, Series: Heart of the Wolf
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 1999-08-18
Updated: 1999-08-18
Packaged: 2018-11-10 20:50:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 23,129
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11134467
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dsa_archivist/pseuds/dsa_archivist
Summary: In which Ivy falls suddenly ill, and Mulder and Scully investigate. Post COTW. This story is a sequel to to Run from the Past.





	Crossroads

**Author's Note:**

> Note from Speranza, the archivist: this story was once archived at [Due South Archive](http://fanlore.org/wiki/Due_South_Archive). To preserve the archive, I began manually importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project in June 2017. I tried to reach out to all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact me using the e-mail address on [Due South Archive collection profile](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/duesoutharchive).

 

 

Crossroads

**Standard Disclaimer:** Not mine. Mulder, Scully,  
Krycek,  
and all things X-files belongs to  
Chris Carter and Ten Thirteen productions. Due South, and all affiliated  
characters belong  
to those who made them. Not me. However, the Queen of Secrets, the  
Shadows, the  
Greens, and Anne are all mine, please don't use them without asking  
first. I make no  
money off of this, so please don't sue me. I'm a jobless student,  
it would be very  
disappointing for you.  
 **Ratings and Warnings:** There is Mulder/Krycek UST here, so  
if the idea of two men  
loving each other bugs you, flee, flee while you still can! (And  
you don't know what  
you're missing...^_^) I'd say about PG, PG 13 for naughty words,  
minor violence, and  
sexual tension. (Unresolved I'm afraid. I have to make sure the rest  
of my stories get read  
somehow...^_^)  
 **Author's Note:** This is a continuation of  my X-files  
series "The Shadow Game" and my  
Due South "Heart of the Wolf" series. You don't _need_ to have read  
the previous  
stories, but it would help. In due South, it occurs _right_ after  
the end if Call of the Wild.  
In X-files, after Apocphrya, before Tunguska/Terma. All C&C can  
be sent to  
morgan_peterson@yahoo.com.  
I'd really, really, really love to get some! I _like_ feed  
back! It will not only be appreciated, but crowed over, shared with  
my parents, relatives,  
friends, innocent passersby, and my irritated cats! Archived at the  
MSFC. Anywhere else,  
ask first, please. Thanks. Enjoy the fic...  
 

**The Crossroads**

**by Morgan Peterson**

  
****

**Our Lady of Mercy Hospital**   
**Chicago, Illinois**   
**June, 12th, 1994**

 The hospital room was dark and silent. A woman lay in the bed, heart monitor   
beeping gently in time with her pulse. A technician hovered over her, fiddling with her IV.   
A second nurse and a doctor entered, leading a blond woman with green-gold eyes into   
the room. Her eyes widened at the sight of the woman before her. 

 "Oh my god! Ivy!" She turned to the doctor, a tall red-haired woman who's name   
tag said 'Dr. Anders'. 

 "What happened? What's wrong? How'd she get here?" 

 The doctor sighed. "The last question is easiest to answer. She apparently   
collapsed at work, outside the records room. A fellow Civilian Aid found her and called an   
ambulance. As to what happened, what's wrong...As near as we can tell, she suffered   
some kind of seizure. Ms. Hollows, you are listed as next of kin, do you happen to know if   
Ms. Green has any history of seizures? Epilepsy? Anything of that sort?" 

 "No. Occasionally she's sleep walked, but she's never had a seizure before. I don't   
think anything like this has happened as long as I've known her." 

 "Hmm." 

 "Doctor? Will she be like this for long?" 

 "We don't know. She just..." 

 The doctor stopped speaking as the floor started to shake beneath her feet. The   
heart monitor shuddered on it's steel frame, and the IV tipped over. The eyes of the   
woman on the bed snapped open. Ms. Hollows stepped forward, hand reaching out for her   
friend and roommate. Then all hell broke lose. 

 The woman in the bed screamed, a long, high, undulating wail that seemed to rip   
into the spines of the other four people in the room. Ms. Hollows sucked in a gasping   
breath. "Ivy! No! Lock it down!" 

 The scream built in pitch, glass objects shattered, liquid and broken glass flying   
everywhere. Then there was a bright flash of light, then everything, and everyone, in the   
room, except the bed and it's patient, were flung outwards, crashing into the walls. 

***

**J. Edgar Hoover Building**   
**Washington DC**   
**June 14th, 1994**   
**9:00 am**

 Dana Scully knew that her partner was excited about something the instant she   
walked in the door. He was staring intently at a projected image of a wreaked hospital   
room, and tapping a pencil against a file in his lap. He had that half smile that meant he   
was hot on the trail of one of his odd theories. Scully was never sure whether to be   
amazed or annoyed when they usually turned out to be correct. 

 "Hello, Mulder." 

 "Hi Scully! What do you think of this?" 

 She moved to stand next to him, and regarded the image. "They need a better   
maid? What happened anyway? Earthquake?" 

 "This is what's left of a room in Our Lady of Mercy Hospital in Chicago." 

 "So, not an earthquake then. What did it?" 

 Mulder clicked the control in his hand, and the slide projector changed the image   
to show a dark haired woman, laying in a hospital bed. He handed her the files he'd been   
holding. "According to four eye-witness accounts, this woman." 

 Scully perused the documents and blinked. "Mulder, that doesn't make sense. She   
couldn't possibly cause that much damage on her own. According to this, she's comatose.   
There is practically no brain activity at all! And she couldn't possibly be strong enough,   
even is she were conscious! The photo showed a solid steel monitor frame twisted like a   
pretzel! There was an IV rack driven through the wall! She couldn't have done things like   
that! It's physically impossible!" 

 "Ah, but according to them, it wasn't done _physically_!" 

 "Why didn't the press get wind of this?" 

 "Someone's been covering it up." 

 "Why?" 

 Mulder grinned up at her. "_That_ is the hundred dollar question, Scully! So, up   
for a trip to the Windy City?" 

 Scully sighed and shook her head. Some things would never change... "Sure."   
  

***

**The Redline**  
 **Cyber Cafe**  
 **Washington DC**  
 **June 14th**  
 **11:00 am**

 She finished logging off her computer, and leaned back in her seat. Around her, the   
other patrons of the third rate coffee house continued about their business, ignoring the   
woman in the white suit. She scowled. 'Damn it! Those idiots _lost_ the Krycek boy. I   
was counting on them keeping him immobile. I could have killed him at my leisure. Now   
the easy bit of this is going to become the difficult bit. There are few things so difficult to   
find as Krycek on the run. Especially when he has a Green helping him. And I don't know   
this one. Her powers could be quite...unusual.' 

 The woman clicked her laptop computer closed, and sipped her tea. 'Well. I will   
find him, sooner or later. I know where Mulder is, all I have to do is wait. Krycek will   
come to me. He has no choice. The Call will bring him, just as surely as it will bring Lady   
Ivy's Balance. Then it is just a matter of a few well placed 'accidents'. Easy. Then I will   
have won.' 

 Getting rid of Krycek was near the top of her 'to do' list. He was the most   
dangerous of the Balances. Get rid of him, and the rest will be easy. He is the only one of   
them who has a clue about what's really going on. And a little bit of knowledge made   
Alex a _very_ dangerous boy... 

 She sat in the driver's seat of her rental car, and pulled a briefcase from under the   
back seat. Removing a file folder and a cell phone, she settled in for a bit of business. She   
punched in a number, and began flipping through the folder. 

 When she heard the *click* that indicated someone was on the line, she smirked. 

"Send the Bounty Hunter. I'll take care of everything else." 

 "Yes, Lady." 

 She grinned. Her vengeance was finally drawing near. She would destroy her   
mother, her sisters, and their precious 'Plan'! Finally, after hundreds of years, she would   
see it all in ruins at her mother's feet, and then she'd see despair in the Bitch Queen's eyes   
before she killed her! And best of all... 

 She tapped the folder in her lap as her grin turned evil. The best thing of all, was   
that she'd use her mother's own tool to do it! 

***

**Airport**  
 **Hartford, Connecticut**  
 **June 14th, 1994**  
 **7:00 PM**  
 ****

 Alex smiled at the ticket girl behind the counter. "Two tickets for Carstairs?" 

 The woman smiled brightly at him. "Alex and Ari?" 

 "That would be us." 

 "Here you are sir. Gate three. I hope you and your niece enjoy the flight!" 

 "Thank you. Say 'Thanks' to the nice lady, Ari." 

 Min shot him a dark look through her lashes, then smiled shyly up at the woman   
and whispered, " 'ank you." 

 Alex smirked as they walked to their gate. Min was going to _hurt_ him for that   
one later...But the look on her face was worth it. 

 They boarded with no problems. Amazing. He was really quite grateful that Min   
had taken a liking to him. She was a world class schemer. If she ever needed a job, he   
knew of at least four agencies that would hire her right off... 

 Min leaned back in the airplane seat, and grinned up at him. "So, 'Uncle Alex',   
how do we find the Fox? Somehow, I think the traditional horses and hounds would be   
overkill..." 

 "Well, first, I have a nest-egg we need to raid. Then we go looking." 

 "I think _I_ could help in that respect. You see, I have these internet friends. They   
call themselves the MSFC..."   
  

***

 

 Anne Hollows was frightened. She didn't know what to do. In the span of a few   
weeks, her life had been turned upside down. The man, or to be more accurate, wolf she   
loved was in the armpit of the frozen north, riding herd on Fraser and Ray...or rather,   
Stanley Kowalski. Ray, the _real_ Ray as it turned out, had run off to California with   
Ray..._Stanley's_ ex-wife, Stella. And now, her best friend and room mate was catatonic.   
Except when she was having  fits and tossing things around the room without use of her   
hands! 

 Ivy had always been special. She could feel other people's emotions, she could see   
and speak with the dead, and she had 'feelings' about things that were never wrong.   
She had known that Anne was a were-wolf at their first meeting. But she had never   
floated things, or set stuff on fire, or flung people across rooms before. 

Something had been done to her, and Anne had no idea what, or by whom. 

 There was a knock on her apartment door, and when she opened it, Detectives   
Huey and Dewey entered, followed by two people in trench coats. A tall, dark haired man   
with hazel eyes, and a petite woman with red hair and blue eyes. Anne blinked at them. 

 "Ms. Hollows? This is Agent Mulder, and his partner Agent Scully. They're   
investigating this case." 

 "What case?" 

 Agent Mulder stepped forward with a charming smile and presented his badge. "If   
we could just ask you a few questions, Miss?" 

 Anne nodded, eyeing him up and down. "Please be seated. I'll just show the   
detectives out?" 

 She led the two men to the door, and smiled reassuringly at them. For all that they   
were kinda dinks, they were truly worried about Ivy. As she returned to her kitchen, she   
mused over the name on the man's badge. 'Fox Mulder...why does that sound vaguely   
familiar?' 

 She raised an eyebrow at her 'guests'. "Can I make you some coffee?" 

 The man nodded absently while his eyes absorbed every detail of the room. And   
Anne had a feeling that he'd _remember_ them all later..."Please." 

 Scully nodded in agreement with her partner. "That would be kind of you. Now,   
about the events that occurred a few nights ago? The ones that resulted in the destruction   
of..." 

 She snorted sarcastically, interrupting the woman. "So, someone is finally going to   
ask the right questions? The police aren't. Which surprises me. Usually they do just fine   
on the weird stuff. But then, that was before the Rays and Fraser left." She shrugged.   
"Sure. I'll answer your questions. What do you want to know?" 

 The man leaned forward, met her eyes, and practically oozed sincerity and   
concern. "What happened?" 

 Anne raised an eyebrow at the man. He was a psychologist. He had to have been   
well trained to project emotions that successfully with just posture. Due to her...unusual   
background, Anne was _very_ sensitive to body language. After all, she was a were-wolf.   
Half her language counted on it. She smirked internally at this agent's tactics. 'It'll take   
more than that to sucker _me_ in, my laddie...' 

 She smiled and deliberately arranged her posture to project calm efficiency. "Well,   
I was called in because I'm listed as Ivy's next of kin. When she was admitted, I had to   
sign the papers, fill out the forms, you know the drill, I'm sure, being FBI agents and all." 

 Scully nodded, which caused Mulder to shoot her a wry look. Anne grinned   
internally and outwardly shot the red haired agent a sympathetic look. 'Oh yeah. She's   
been there too. Poor girl.' 

 "Doctor Anders has taken care of both Ivy and I before, and she wanted to ask me   
some questions about Ivy's medical history. She brought me to Ivy's room. There was a   
technician and a nurse there as well. Four of us in all. The doctor and I were talking, and   
then, suddenly, Ivy's eyes snap open and she screams. A really terrible scream, like   
someone was torturing her, or something. Everything began to rattle and shake, like there   
was an earthquake, all the glass in the room shattered, then there was this really bright   
flash of light and the next thing I know, I'm meeting the wall at high speeds." 

 "What were you talking about right before the incident?" 

 She blinked at the man. "Umm, I can't really recall. Ivy's the one with the   
photographic memory. I...we were talking about her medical history. Dr. Anders wanted   
to know if she had a history of seizures or Epilepsy. I said no. She used to sleepwalk, but   
never this..." 

 "Sleepwalk?" 

 "Yeah. I was her roommate all through Collage, and ever since her house burned   
down she's been staying with me at my apartment. She would just, occasionally,   
sleepwalk. I'd find her standing in the living room talking to people who weren't there,   
with her eyes wide open." 

 The woman raised an eyebrow. "Could she have been..." 

 "Faking? Not that I could ascertain. And I _am_ a trained psychologist." 

 The man, Mulder, looked interested. "And your professional opinion?" 

 "On her history? Or her present condition?" 

 "Present." 

 "The last few weeks have been very traumatic for her. But I don't believe that said   
trauma was enough to drive her to this state. I think something was done to her. I think   
this is chemically induced." 

 "By who?" 

 "I doubt you'd believe me. I barely believe me..." 

 Mulder gave her a impish smile. "Try me." 

 "Have you ever heard of a criminal organization called 'the Shadow Game'?"   
  

***

 He didn't really trust this woman. But then, even he had to admit he had a   
tendency towards paranoia. It was entirely possible she was sharing all she knew about   
what had happened. But a rumor of a secret crime ring was _not_ quite what he'd been   
expecting from this case. 

 Never the less, he smiled at the young woman as she led them into the hospital   
room. "Thank you for doing this." 

 "Don't mention it. I want Ivy to get better. You seem to be the only options in   
town, so I'll take what I can get." 

 Mulder made a wry face. "Always glad to know we're appreciated." 

 "Immensely. At least _you're_ asking questions. Every time I thought that an   
inquiries would _finally_ start, everything just stopped dead! It was the most frustrating   
thing! No one talks, no one asks, nothing! It's like someone's trying to keep this quiet.   
And it wouldn't be the first time that things concerning Ivy just...disappeared. It's weird,   
and I'm worried!" 

 "Why?" 

 " 'Cause last time something concerning Ivy vanished, it was _Ivy_! And then her   
house burned down, and then weird things started happening, and then suddenly she was   
back, and that was that. It was like nothing had ever happened." 

 Mulder's eyebrows rose. She'd vanished? Suddenly returned? "Under what   
circumstances did she vanish?" 

 "I told you, her house burned down. We were told she died, and then she wasn't   
dead, and suddenly *pfffp* nothing. No evidence, no inquiry, no case, no nothing. Null   
and void." 

 "Did she experience missing time? Strange episodes? Memory flashbacks?" 

 "You mean was she kidnapped by aliens? Probably not. _That_ I could handle.   
Aliens, I'm good with. I'm culturally prepared to accept that explanation. No, I think it's   
something else..." 

 He was about to ask what she'd meant by 'Culturally prepared', when his eyes fell   
onto the woman on the bed. He had difficulty keeping his shock off his expression. Both   
Scully and Hollows locked on to it anyway. 

 "Mulder? What's wrong?" 

 "Agent? Is there a problem?" 

 Mulder sighed. The woman on the bed was a dead ringer for the source he called   
'Green'. She'd been popping into his life, off and on, since he'd first opened the X-files.   
She and her black-clad Shadows. 

 "Scully? Does she remind you of anyone?" 

 Scully blinked, and gazed thoughtfully at the bed-ridden woman. Then blinked   
again. "Yes. But the eyes aren't right, and the ears are different. However, she bears a   
striking resemblance to Alex Krycek" 

 Mulder couldn't stop his surprised double take. Now that Scully brought it up, she   
_did_ look a _lot_ like Krycek. God knew that the man was seldom far from his   
thoughts... 

 "Now that you mention it, yes she does. However, she also is a dead ringer for one   
of my sources. A woman I call 'Green'. She and her Shadows..." 

 Anne gasped. "You've seen the Shadows?! And who the hell is 'Krycek'?!" 

 At Anne's words, the eyes of the woman on the bed snapped open. The blond   
beside him winced. "Oh shit. Here we go again. Might I suggest bracing yourself?" 

 A wail was building up in the room, and, to his shock, the woman's eyes were   
fixed directly on him! "FIND HIM!" 

 Anne winced, clapping both hands to her ears, and screamed in pain. "Ivy! Stop it!   
Lock it down!" 

 The woman's eyes held his, and he couldn't look away. He could hear Scully   
calling his name, but faintly, as if from miles away. His vision blacked out completely, and   
all he could hear clearly was a whistling, rushing sound, like a high wind in his ears, and   
the voice of the woman on the hospital bed. 

 "Find him you need him find him he needs you she's after you find him find   
yourself you're in danger find Balance find your shadow find your heart find him find him   
find him find him..." 

 He regained conciousness to the sound of Scully, calling his name. Again. He   
found himself laying flat on his back, Scully directing a penlight into his eye, and Ms.   
Hollows hovering nervously behind her. He winced. "Scully? Do you mind?" 

 She calmly flashed his other eye. "You were unconscious for precisely thirteen   
minutes." 

 Anne nodded. "Everything was slammed against the walls like before, except you   
were just standing there, and staring straight into Ivy's eyes, and then she slumped back   
into la-la land, and you collapsed. It was really weird! Did...did she...tell you anything? I   
thought for a minute, I could hear her, but then the noise got to loud." 

 "Noise?" 

 "Yeah. She was screaming, you know. Shattered all the glass in the room. Is he   
okay, Agent Scully? Ivy'll never forgive herself if someone got hurt because of her..." 

 "He seems fine." 

 Mulder stared at the unconscious woman in the hospital bed, and then turned his   
gaze to Anne. "Has she ever told you anything about a 'Balance'?" 

***

**Redline**  
 **Cyber Cafe**  
 **Washington DC**  
 **June 18th, 1994**

 A dark haired woman sat down across from a tall, distinguished looking man. She   
smiled. "Found you." 

 The man stared levelly at her. "I never doubted you would. What is the mission?" 

 The woman sighed. "Mom is right, you people have no sense of humor. I wish you   
to do two things. One, eliminate Alex Krycek. I'm sure you're familiar with him..." 

 "Yes." 

 "Two, bring me this child." The woman showed a picture to the man. A young   
girl, about six years old, with long chestnut brown hair in a thick braid, smiled at him from   
the paper. He nodded. 

 "Any 'special' requirements?" 

 "Circle of iron, circle of salt, circle of water. She is too young to counter the old   
ways. Do not, whatever you do, let the Thrice Circle be broken. This child can do   
_damage_, and she knows of you and your...weaknesses. The instant your mission is   
complete, the requested information will be delivered to your superiors." 

 The man nodded, took one last glance at the photo, and left the cafe. The woman   
smirked. She was almost there. Just a little longer, and she would win. She just had to be   
patient for a _little_ longer...   
  

***

**JC's Motel**   
**Washington DC**   
**June 18th, 1994**   
**later that day.** ****

 Alex opened the hotel door to a sound which had become quite familiar during the   
past week. 

 "...Meet Pinky and the Brain, who want to rule the Universe. Good feathers flap   
together, Slappy wacks 'em with her purse. Buttons chases Mindy, while Rita sings a   
verse..." 

 Min was watching Animaniacs again. It was odd. She was the only six year old he   
knew who could accomplish mind boggling acts of damage and chaos that amazed even   
him, but still loved to sing along with Yakko, Wakko, and Dot. He shrugged. Everyone   
has to have a hobby... 

 "Hey, kiddo. I'm home." 

 The child bounded through the door, long chestnut braid flying behind her, electric   
blue eyes shining. "Hey, Uncle Alex! Did ya get it? Did ya get it?!" 

 He produced a laptop computer. "Have I ever not come through for you?" 

 She snatched it from his hands with a grin. "Not yet, but this relationship is still   
young..." 

 He rolled his eyes. "So, do you really think these friends of yours are going to be   
able to help?" 

 "Yes. They tend to keep track of Mulder. Just because he's, well, _Mulder_. You   
_know_ that he is the God of Weird Stuff to most paranoids...Here, let me log on. Oh,   
and Alex? Could you find me a decent sized mirror? I'll need it in a minute." 

 Alex blinked, but went and got a mirror. He had learned that generally an esoteric   
request meant Min was going to be doing one of her magic tricks. He wasn't going to   
complain, her tricks had proved quite useful in escaping from his employers and their   
compound. Min was a _useful_ person to have around... 

 "Thanks, Alex." 

 The girl typed busily for a few minutes, and then arranged the mirror next to the   
computer. She muttered under her breath, typed a few more lines then pushed 'return'. 

The mirror fogged, then cleared to show a brunette with glasses staring wide eyed at   
them. "Min! Damn it, you _know_ we hate it when you do this! Scatter you lot! Min's on   
the screen again!" 

 There was the sound of quite a few people ducking under furniture. Min laughed.   
"Hello Mz. Public Relations. How's the Silo business?" 

 "Booming. What do you want, you Chibi Child From Hell?" 

 "Information. We need to know where everyone's favorite Feebies are right now." 

 The girl raised an eyebrow. "Why not find out the normal way?" 

 "I ditched. Mom's gonna ground me for half a millennia, but it's worth it!" 

 "I'm sure." 

 "So? Where's the Fox?" 

 "Have you checked channel ten?" 

 There was a brittle silence, while Min glared at the brown haired woman, and she   
smirked back from the mirror. Min spoke with the slow patience of one speaking to a total   
idiot. "I _meant_ Mul-der. It's important. I mean it." 

 "So do I. Check. Channel. Ten." 

 Min blinked, turned, grabbed the remote and flipped stations. She blinked at the   
results and turned back to the mirror. "You have a sick sense of humor, Morgan." 

 "Oh yeah? If that isn't the pot calling the kettle a kitchen utensil..." 

 "Thanks Morgan. And thank the girls too." 

 "As soon as I convince them not to lynch you, sure. Now, get the hell off my   
computer screen so I can get back to work." 

 Min grinned and logged off the computer. The mirror went blank. Alex sighed and   
raised an eyebrow at the TV screen. "Chicago Hope?" 

 "I _said_ she had a sick sense of humor. Well, Uncle Alex, it seems we're heading   
for Chicago..." 

***

 Beryl Green was angry. She was more than angry, she was utterly  
incensed.

Somehow, Alex Krycek had not only managed to escape their compound's defenses, both   
technological and otherwise, he had managed to make himself undetectable by Shadows!   
Most of all, and this was the bit that _really_ pissed her off, he had her _daughter_ with   
him! 

 "DECE! I want his location, and I want it _now_!" 

 "That is going to be a little difficult. Mr. Krycek is _quite_ experienced at escaping   
notice, surveillance, and tails. And what he doesn't know, your daughter does. I think we   
are going to have to accept that, for now, they're gone." 

 "Over  my dead and rotting corpse!" 

 The computer sighed, and once again began to run through lists of train, airplane,   
and boat passages, as well as all car rentals in the greater Connecticut area. For the fifth   
time. With Beryl pacing back and forth, back and forth, back and...It was going to be a   
long night. A _really_ long night. 

 "Rilly? It _is_ possible that Mr. Krycek did not _kidnap_ Min. Your daughter has   
always been the curious type, and Mr. Krycek does present quite an opportunity..." 

 "Find. Them. Now." 

 *sigh* "Yes, Lady Beryl." 

***

**June 18th**  
 **Anne Hollow's Appt.**  
 **11:30 pm** ****

Anne Hollows sat and stared at the phone. She held a small notebook in her hands  
that was neatly labeled 'In case of emergencies call'. She sighed. There was no help for it.   
She was going to have to draft some of Ivy's friends for assistance. Her knowledge of   
magic was minimal, but at least she had _some_. Her knowledge of computers stopped at   
programming the damn things. She knew the algorithmic principals behind a search   
engine, but trying to _use_ one of the damn things...not a chance. 

 She lifted up the phone and flipped open the notebook, scanning to an entry   
halfway down the first page. 'MSFC- computers, paranoid as hell.' She sighed again, and   
punched in the numbers. The phone rang three times, then there were a series of clicks as   
the line was redirected through several sources and Goddess only knew _how_ many   
other filters and mis-directors. Then there was the silence that indicated the line was open.   
Anne cleared her throat. 

 "Umm, hello? This is Anne Hollows? I'm calling in proxy for Ivy Green..." 

 A woman's voice came across the line. She sounded regal, and slightly British.   
"What's wrong with Ivy?" 

 "She's sick. Really sick. I don't know why, or how, but I'm sure her mother's   
behind it. I need your help to find a cure." 

 "You have it. What do you need?" 

 "What can you find out about 'Balances'?" 

 "We can possibly hack into the lower frames of the Shadow-computer, but she's   
quite sneaky for a piece of hardware. We might be better off trying to tap into Ivy's   
sister's computer. Hunter is a font of useful knowledge. Some of it actually voluntary. Let   
me talk to 'Mouse'." 

 There was the sound of whispered discussion, then a new voice on the line. 

"Hunter's your best bet, we'll get right on it." 

 "And you are Mouse?" 

 "No. I'm Morgan. You were talking to Rianna, our Vice President. Mouse is kinda   
busy right now...NO! Helen! Do _not_ do that! You'll...damn it. It's loose again." 

 "What?" 

 "The pink bunny virus...never mind. It's a long story. We'll get to work finding   
everything we can on 'Balances' and Ivy's condition. We'll be in contact." 

 The line went dead. 

 Anne sighed. Strange people. Of course, as Ivy's friends went, they were probably   
some of the more well balanced...She considered. 'Pink bunny virus? Then again, maybe   
not...' 

 Regardless, now all she could do was wait. 

***

  _He was sitting in a chair. Across a mahogany table sat Mulder.  
The two men_  
 _stared at each other. For once, the dream woman said nothing.  
She simply stood behind_  
 _Alex, hands on his shoulders, and waited._ __

 _For the longest time, Mulder's eyes skittered about the room, looking anywhere_   
_but at Alex. Then he cleared his throat and slowly brought his eyes up to meet his. Alex_   
_felt his breath hitch at the emotions in Mulder's eyes. His gaze locked with the other_   
_man's and he heard Mulder's monotone dimly, as if his ears were stuffed with cotton._ __

_"I...I have to tell you that...I..."_ __

_There was a wrenching sensation, and an angry scream from the woman behind_   
_him, and then the room, the woman, and Mulder all vanished. He was now standing in a_   
_large dark room. Min huddled in the center of an iron circle, staring miserably up at_   
_him. Behind her, one of the Alien Bounty Hunters was poised, ice-pick in hand. The child_   
_called out to him. "Alex! Find him! Find Mulder! He's in danger! Go, quickly! Don't let_   
_her find him first!"_ __

_Again, there was the wrench and Alex stood in a hospital room. In the bed, a dark_   
_haired woman with large green eyes lay staring at him. "You are the Balance. He needs_   
_you. We all need a balance in our lives. To save our sanity. To rein in the power...Find_   
_him. _He_ will not look for _you_...find Mulder. Hurry. She's hunting you...hunting_   
_him..."_ __

_Then he stood, among a scene of chaos, screams and explosions echoing around_   
_him. Mulder stood in a field of dead bodies , tears blackened by soot running down his_   
_cheeks. His hands dripped red with blood. "It's my fault. I did this. I couldn't hold it_   
_alone. Why did you leave me? Why did you let her take you away? I needed you..."_ __

_Alex shook his head violently. A dream, this was all a dream, wake up Alex it's_   
_just a dream. Just a dream Alex, it's..._

 "...just a dream! Alex! Alex wake up!" 

 Alex blinked his eyes open to see Min's concerned gaze inches from his own. She   
had both hands on his shoulders, and was shaking him slightly. For some reason, it   
felt...familiar. He could almost...Then it was gone. Along with the rest of his dreams. 

 "Alex? Are you all right?" 

 "Yeah." 

 Min sat down next to him. "Do you dream like that often?" 

 "Often enough. You should get some sleep. We still don't know where in Chicago   
Mulder is. We'll have to look in the morning..." 

 Min gave him a wry look. "Somehow, I doubt that finding him is going to be the   
difficult bit. This _is_ Mulder we're talking about. Besides, it _is_ morning. Five am to be   
specific." 

 "Huh. Well, give me time to shower, and then we'll be off. Suggestions?" 

 "You check the hospitals, I'll check the police stations." 

 "Why?" 

 "Well, this is Mulder. He's here for a case. His cases generally tend to revolve   
around Hospitals or Precincts. Either he or Scully are bound to be at one or the other, and   
one of us are bound to find at least one of them. And frankly I'd rather you didn't get too   
close to police stations. For my own peace of mind? Works for you?" 

 "Yeah. Just give me about twenty minutes here..." 

 "Breakfast will be waiting when you get out of the shower. You have a choice.   
Cereal, cereal, or the ever popular cereal." 

 Alex made a face at her and retreated to the shower. He was cursed with a hyper   
active _morning_ person. Sure, he could wake up and function in seconds, he wouldn't   
have lived very long in his line of work if he couldn't, but that didn't mean he had to   
_like_ it...   
  

***

  _Mulder sat in a chair. Across a large Mahogany table sat Krycek. Behind him,_   
_stood a tall woman, her face hidden by long black hair, hands settled on the triple_   
_agent's shoulders, as if offering him support, or protecting him._ __

_For weeks now, he'd visited this room, with it's table, it's chairs, and most_   
_importantly, Krycek. Krycek looking at him with naked emotion in his eyes. Despair, loss,_   
_fear, pain, anger, confusion, and just possibly...was it need? Want? Never love. It _could_   
_not_ be love. He refused to believe that. Despite the nagging little voice in the back of his_   
_head that refused to release the idea._ __

_For weeks the faceless woman had harangued him, badgered him, and just been_   
_irritating as hell. She'd forced him to face emotions and thoughts that he'd shoved as far_   
_down into his sub-conscious as he could put them. And she relentlessly dragged them,_   
_one by one, to the surface._ __

_Only now, for some reason, she said nothing. She just stared at him. He fought_   
_the urge to meet Krycek's eyes...Alex's eyes. He knew from experience how dangerous_   
_that was. How easy it was to drown in the deep green depths of his gaze. He remembered,_   
_no matter how hard he tried to forget. In the dead of night, staring sleeplessly up at the_   
_ceiling, stained blue with the light of the TV, he remembered and longed...No. He wasn't_   
_going to think about that._ __

_But he could feel Alex watching him. Practically feel the pull of him. He could_   
_just...look. Just for a minute. He could..._ __

_Mulder slowly brought his eyes up to meet Alex's, and he was lost. "I...I have to_   
_tell you that...I..."_ __

_There was a wrenching sensation, and he saw the panic and anger in Alex's deep_   
_green eyes as the woman's angry scream split the air, then he was standing alone._ __

_There was a sharp pain in his neck, and reaching up, he discovered a small dart_   
_embedded threre. Pulling it out, his gaze moved up and faced a woman's. Black haired,_   
_and green eyed, and laughing at him. "You're doomed now. Your Alex can not save you_   
_anymore..."_ __

_He followed her gesture to see a dark figure sprawled in a pool of blood nearby._   
_His green eyes, glazed over with death, stared into Mulder's own. And he felt a burning_   
_sensation buzzing through his veins._ __

_"That's right, you can feel it, can't you? The power? It's in you. It always has_   
_been. But now you can feel it. You hate me, don't you?" Her voice turned into a coaxing_   
_purr. "You can destroy me with that power. Kill me. Kill them all..."_ __

_The buzzing changed to a drone, then a crashing howl. And then, the world_   
_exploded. He knew that people were dying. That it was all his fault. That his hands were_   
_painted with the blood of innocents. But he couldn't stop it. He couldn't hold the power._   
_It just flowed steadily from him. Like tears, like blood, death flowed from him and he_   
_couldn't stop it._ __

_He raised his gaze from his scarlet drenched fingers and met Alex's eyes. But it_   
_was a ghost. It had to be. His Alex was dead. Along with so many others._ __

_"It's my fault. I did this. I couldn't hold it alone. Why did you leave me? Why did_   
_you let her take you away? I needed you..."_ __

_Alex's eyes, his beautiful eyes, eyes filled with shock, and sorrow, and disbelief,_   
_shimmered. No, that wasn't Alex, it was the air...It wasn't really Alex, it was..._

 A dream. Mulder sat, frozen and gasping, in his bed in the third-rate Chicago hotel.   
Not a field of blood and death. Not the room with chairs and tables, not a deserted street.   
It was just a dream. 

 He glanced at the bed-side clock. Five in the morning. There came a knock on the   
door. He knew, even before she spoke, that it was Scully. 

 "Mulder? Are you up yet? Anne just called me. She says that one of her Detective   
friends had a tendency to keep separate, unofficial records that might help us, so she's   
bringing us to the station. After that, I'd like to visit the hospital again and talk to Dr.   
Anders." 

 "Sure. Just give me half an hour." 

 "There's no hurry. Anne won't be here until seven. We have plenty of time to get   
ready." 

 Mulder sighed, and dragged himself towards the shower. Sometimes he wished he   
was one of those people who never remembered their dreams... 

***

   
 Min sighed and slipped through yet another hallway. She had  
no idea that Police  
Stations were such a maze. They always looked so neat and organized  
on TV... It didn't  
help that people kept stopping her and asking if she needed help.  
Luckily, she was an  
excellent liar, or she'd be in a bit of trouble.

 She blinked, suddenly realizing that she had no clue in hell as to what Agent   
Mulder even looked like. Oh well. She'd just keep her eyes open for FBI agents. After all,   
they tended to stand out in a crowd. 

 She was so busy searching out her target, she didn't notice the man behind her,   
searching out his. The janitor carefully swept a hallway, watching her movements. Of   
course, it wasn't really the janitor... 

 Min sighed. No good. Not a sign of them. She'd have to move on to the next   
precinct. It would have helped if Morgan had told her _why_ the heck he was in Chicago.   
Then she could have worked out his movements from there... 

 She left carefully, avoiding people who had stopped her before, and managed to   
gain access to one of the back doors. She slipped into the alley, and shook her head.   
Hopefully, Alex was having better luck. She only managed to take two steps before she   
felt the needle. Then everything went dark. 

***

 Alex wandered from hallway to hallway, never getting stopped. In  
the white coat  
and scrubs he'd stolen from the laundry room he looked enough like  
a doctor that no one  
questioned his presence. He sighed. He hated hospitals. Too much  
human suffering  
gathered into one place. He'd always fancied that he could feel it  
pushing in on his mind if  
he stayed in one too long. He was almost glad when the Consortium  
gave him an excuse  
to avoid them. But Min had been correct. Police stations, especially  
ones that possibly  
contained Mulder, were not a good thing at the moment. Alex was occasionally  
reckless,  
but never stupidly so.

 He'd been charming the nurses, and discovered that Mulder had, indeed, been here   
earlier, but had since left. Along with two women. Evidently his interest was in a certain   
patient who, for some reason, seemed to make all the staff excessively nervous. He   
grinned wryly to himself. Not surprising. Any subject of Mulder's investigations usually   
made others nervous... 

 He'd found the room that Mulder was interested in. He stepped in, and calmly   
surveyed it's occupant. She was alone.Which, in a hospital as crowded as this one, was   
surprising. She was also in a reinforced room, and it held very little except for her and the   
bed. She wasn't even hooked up to much in the way of equipment. He frowned, then his   
eyes widened in shock. She was the dark haired woman from his dreams. And she was   
staring at him. 

 It felt like a wind, whispering in his ears. He could almost understand words, but   
they wavered in and out of his hearing, like a radio with lots of static. 

 "Alex...Mulder...find him...Min...danger...find...can't be there...your   
mother...find...she'll kill...find him. Find him. Find him. Find him. FIND HIM!" 

 The wind had grown louder, the wail of it filling the room. The window shattered.   
He felt something cold and wet striking his face. He flinched as the wail spiraled higher   
and higher, yet he couldn't tear his gaze from the woman's. She was crying as she stared   
at him and he could just make out her lips moving to form silent words. "Help me." 

 The wind reached a crescendo, and every object in the room except for him, the   
bed, and it's patient was flung around the room, crashing into the walls. He never heard   
the door open, and he never saw the look of shock on Mulder's face at finding him in the   
room. He was already lost to the darkness of unconsciousness. 

***

 Anne shot a sideways glance at the red haired Agent next to her. "Does he do this   
to you often? Suddenly get an idea and ditch you?" 

 The woman shot her a cool look. "What are in these files?" 

 "Well, Ray...Stan...Kowalski always had two sets of files. There were his files, and   
then there were his _files_. He kept them just in case..." 

 "Just in case of what?" 

 "Anything. Kowalski would make a wonderful paranoid. Or at least he used to   
have...He keeps 'em here. Since he's on vacation, I'm sure he wouldn't mind if we   
borrowed them for Ivy's own good..." 

 Anne calmly reached into his bottom drawer, and removed a book on Canadian   
art. She grinned at Scully. "That's that! We can meet Mulder at the hospital now." 

 She handed the files to the agent, and followed her out of the building. Then   
blinked. There was something...wrong. She felt it in her bones. A certain scent on the air. 

It wasn't human. That was certain. But it wasn't one of the People either. She couldn't   
place it, but it made her skin shiver. She tilted her head, tracing the smell. It was him. The   
janitor in the blue uniform who'd just slipped from the room. Anne silently detached   
herself from Scully's orbit, and followed him. She was going to find out what was going   
on. She had a feeling that this guy was somehow related to Ivy's problems, and while she   
may not be psychic, she was positive she was right. 

 She tracked the man from shadow to shadow, doorway to doorway, until she saw   
him slip into a car and drive off. She sighed. 'Right. I can do this. I can. If Diefenbaker can   
chase a pizza delivery car through half of Chicago, I can follow this guy...' 

 She trotted off in the direction the car had went, breathing deeply to catch the   
scent. 'He wasn't alone. There's another scent here. A child...a little girl, I think. Well,   
we'll see about _that_!' 

 She never noticed Scully following her... 

***

 Mulder stared at the man who lay in the bed before him. The hospital staff had   
been quite helpful about moving his fellow 'agent' from Ivy Green's room. Then again, at   
this point, they were scared enough to do just about anything if they thought it would get   
them away from that room. 

 He sighed. Alex Krycek. What was he doing here? Stupid question. Krycek always   
showed up to confuse things. It seemed to be his mission in life. He smirked at the turn his   
thoughts had taken. 'Paranoid Mulder. You know that Krycek is out for himself. He's   
honed survival into an art form.' 

 He looked down at the unconscious man, and was rather shocked to find that his   
hand had strayed to Krycek's bandaged forehead, where a bit of glass had struck him a   
glancing blow. He had been absently brushing Krycek's bangs from his face, without even   
thinking about it. 

 He snatched his hand back, and stared at it as if it belonged to someone else. What   
in the name of sanity did he think he was doing? This was _Krycek_! He hated him.   
Krycek had lied to him. Betrayed him. Helped steal Scully away. Stolen the DAT tape,   
and beat up his boss, and most of all killed his _father_! He should _not_ be feeling...what   
_was_ he feeling anyway?! 

 At just that moment, Krycek woke up. Mulder could tell. It was like someone had   
stretched the atmosphere so tightly that breathing became difficult. The green eyes, which   
he refused to meet just now, stared at him. He could almost feel them, like a touch. He   
smiled wryly. Perhaps 'a punch' would be a better simile. 

 "You want to tell me what you were doing in that room, Krycek?" 

 "Looking for you." 

 Mulder blinked. "You thought I was in the hospital?" 

 "You had been. And for that matter you are right now. Safe bet on my part, you   
tend to end up in hospitals, one way or another. I owe Min lunch." 

 Mulder eyed the man. He was smiling that wise-ass grin that always made Mulder   
want to smack it off. "What...?" 

 "Ah, ah, ah, Mulder. My turn. What the hell happened in there?" 

 Mulder glared. "You're hardly in a position to demand answers Krycek. Besides,   
that was what I was going to ask you." 

 Alex blinked. "You mean you don't know either?" 

 "She had yet another psionic episode. What I want to know is if your experience   
mirrors mine." 

 "She did that to you?" 

 "In a manner of speaking. Now, what happened?" 

 Alex opened his mouth, but whatever irritating thing he was about to say was   
interrupted by the sound of Mulder's cell phone. Mulder flipped it open. "Mulder." 

 A woman's voice, cold and mocking, flowed from the phone. He recognized it. It   
was the voice from his dream. "Hello, Agent Mulder. I'd like to speak to Alex, if you   
don't mind." 

 "I mind." 

 The voice sighed. "Are you going to make me do this the _messy_ way? I just   
need to deliver a threat to the man. You can hardly object to that, can you? You _hate_   
him after all." The woman's voice turned sly. "Don't you?" 

 Mulder scowled. "Why use my phone?" 

 "Unfortunately, the man is too paranoid to keep a cell phone. I can't imagine   
_why_, everyone _loves_ Alex..." 

 Mulder stared at the phone for a few moments, then shrugged and handed it to   
Krycek. "She wants to threaten you." 

 He watched as the man blinked, then picked up the phone. "What?" 

 Mulder watched Krycek's expression go blank. There were several minutes of   
silence, as the dark haired man listened. His face might have been blank, but somehow he   
managed to radiate immense anger. There was a pause, as he stared thoughtfully up at   
Mulder. Then, "Where?" 

 A nod. "I'll be there." 

 He disconnected the line, and handed the phone back to Mulder. He climbed out of   
the bed, swaying a little, then straightened himself out. "Come on Mulder. We have a   
daring rescue to pull off." 

 Mulder stared from his phone to the barley mobile Krycek. Then he turned the cell   
phone off, and grabbed the wobbling man's elbow before he fell over. "What the hell are   
you talking about?!" 

 "My partner's been kidnapped." 

 Mulder's eyebrows rose. Most people would have had the decency to put an   
exclamation point at the end of that sentence. "And you want me to help rescue him from   
the bad guys?!" You could have painted a room with the incredulity in that sentence. 

 Krycek blinked, a look of amused surprise on his face. "Goodness no. We need the   
rescue the bad guys from her. If we want enough of them left to question, any way." He   
started walking, rather unsteadily, towards the door. "Coming?" 

 Mulder lunged forward, and pinned Krycek to the wall. Krycek let him, that grin   
that Mulder hated reappearing. "You gonna handcuff me next Mulder? I normally don't   
go for that until at _least_ the third date..." 

 Mulder waited for the flow of anger and violence that always seemed to flood him   
in these situations. Nothing happened. Damn. He stared into Krycek's smirking face. He   
felt he was on the brink of something, some important decision, only his subconscious was   
making it without any input from _him_. The moment stretched, Krycek's smirk turning   
into puzzlement, then something else. Something Mulder had before seen only in his   
dreams...He sighed. The tension snapped. He grabbed hold of Krycek's arm and dragged   
him from the room. Krycek didn't appear to be about to object. He scowled. "You _will_   
fill me in on what the hell is going on while we drive. Now, where are we going?" 

***

 The Alien Bounty Hunter stared down at the child imprisoned in the iron circle. He   
didn't really understand what all the fuss about her was, but then, understanding didn't   
matter. He just followed orders. The psycho woman had information that his superiors   
wanted. So he was to do whatever necessary to gain it. Fine with him. 

 The girl's eyes fluttered open. She glared up at him. "You won't survive this, you   
know." 

 He raised an eyebrow. "And why is that?" 

 She gave him a look that said 'How stupid _are_ you?' and sighed. "Because I'm   
going to kill you, of course. I should have thought that quite obvious." 

 The air around her ignited. The child stared at him as flame swirled around her,   
oblivious to the heat. She had a cheery look on her face. "I know that most things don't   
really kill you, but I should think getting burnt into fiery ash ought to inconvenience you   
just a bit. Don't  you?" 

 The shape shifter blinked. No one had mentioned pyrokinesis to him in the   
briefing... 

 The flame shot forward, and stopped dead at the edge of the circle. The child   
scowled. "What the hell?" 

 The flames vanished, leaving the iron red-hot, but still quite present. The child   
reached out and touched the edge of the circle. There was a flash of light and he watched   
as she was flung across the twelve feet or so that made up the diameter of the Thrice   
Circle. The child struck the invisible barrier of the other side, and slid down to slump at   
the base. She shook her head. "A Thrice Circle? You bound me in a _Thrice Circle_?!   
Who the hell taught you guys about the old ways?" 

 The Bounty Hunter shrugged, and turned around to leave, ignoring the irate shouts   
of his tiny prisoner. He had a psycho woman to call. 

***

 Scully very cautiously nudged the door open, gun in hand. She wasn't sure what   
was going on here, but it was _highly_ suspicious. Hollows had handed her the files, then   
suddenly peeled off through a side door, apparently forgetting that Scully even existed. 

Then she'd trotted off after a small sedan, Scully had followed her, and somehow both of   
them had headed steadily into one of the worst sections of Chicago in it's wake. She'd   
tried to call Mulder, but he'd turned his phone off. Another thing to worry about. He was   
probably getting into who knew _what_ kind of trouble, and not only did she not know   
where he was, she had no clue where _she_ was! Then, around seven, after hours of   
following the girl, suddenly Scully had lost her. The woman had simply slipped into a side   
alley and vanished. When Scully had looked in, there had been nothing but a large dog and   
an open side door. 

 So here she was, sneaking into a warehouse, looking for a strange woman, with   
only a large dog for company. For some reason it was following her. She sighed. 

 'Dana? How do you get into these kinds of things? This never happened _before_   
you got assigned to the X-files. Oh well, normalcy is over-rated.' 

 The dog trotted steadily ahead of her. It had the air of something that knew where   
it was going, and she didn't exactly have anything else to go on, so she followed it. 

 It stopped next to a closed door, and scratched at it, whining slightly. Scully shot it   
a dubious look. "Are you sure you want in here?" 

 *scratch wine yip* 

 Scully shrugged. This had already gone long past surreal. Why shouldn't she start   
talking to dogs? She nudged the door open and glanced inside. 

 A small child huddled in the center of an iron circle that was inset into the floor.   
She looked up at the sound of shock Scully made. Electric blue eyes met Scully's,   
widened, and then burst into tears. "Please let me out! Please? I want my Uncle! I want to   
go home! Please let me out!" 

 Scully hesitantly walked up to the circle, and pushed. The iron, even with the   
surrounding floor, might as well have been as high as the ceiling, because there was a   
barrier between her and the child. "How...?" 

 "You have to break the circle!" 

 "_How_?" 

 The girl sniffled, and wiped her eyes with her sleeve. "It's made with iron, salt, and   
water. To be more specific, iron and blood. However, introduce something that is alien to   
the system, and the circle collapses. Silk would be good, if you have any on you. Or   
perhaps wind. Have you, perhaps, a portable blow dryer in your purse, ma'am?" 

 "No." Scully shook her head, confused. "What's going on? How was this done?" 

 "There's no time! He'll be back soon! He just went off to report. He's gonna kill   
my Uncle, and probably do something worse to me! Please! We have to get out of here!" 

 Scully sighed, and pulled out a silk handkerchief she'd gotten from her brother last   
Christmas. She never used it, it just sat in the bottom of her purse, but evidently it was   
finally going to come in useful. She glanced at the girl. "What now?" 

 "Just lay it over the iron. It ought to short the circle. Like breaking an electrical   
circuit." 

 The instant the silk touched the iron, there was a burst of air, like something   
exploding, only without the light and noise. The child stood slowly, her helpless,   
frightened look vanishing. The rather nasty grin that took it's place was not very   
reassuring. There was a shout behind her. 

 "Stupid woman! Do you know what you've released?!!" 

 She turned to see a tall man staring wide-eyed behind her. The child's voice,   
sounding amused and cold replied. "No. She doesn't. Lucky me, eh?" 

 There was a clatter, and Scully looked up to see Mulder, dragging _Krycek_ of all   
people, bursting into the room. "FBI! Throw down your weapons." 

 Krycek sighed. "The only one with a weapon is Scully, Mulder." 

 The child glared at him. "What the hell took you?" 

 Krycek shrugged. "All the lights were against us." 

 The Bounty Hunter took advantage of the slight confusion to pull a gun and draw   
a bead on Krycek. The child didn't waste time shouting, but pulled something small, shiny,   
and above all _sharp_ from someplace on her person and sped towards the alien. He never   
even saw the blade that drove into the base of his neck. 

 The child flipped over his head, landed on her hands, and did a handspring to right   
herself. She watched dispassionately as the alien dissolved into acidic green gunk. Scully's   
eyes were huge. "Where did you learn that?" 

 The child shrugged. "Gymnastics. They're sending us in younger and younger, you   
know." She wandered over to the goo, and sighed. "Damn. That was one on my better   
daggers. Auntie Jade gave it to me on my third birthday. Drat. Well, it's ruined now. I   
have _got_ to get me one of those ice-pick things if I'm gonna be running into any more   
of these." 

 Mulder raised an eyebrow, and moved his gaze from the irritated child, to the   
amused Krycek, to his bewildered partner and grinned. "Min, I presume?" 

 She grinned. "Right in one, Kit." 

 "My name's Mulder." 

 "I know." Her voice took a sing-song tone, as if she were reciting a poem for   
English class. "Mulder, Fox William. Born October 13th, 1961. Graduated Oxford, degree   
in psychology. First assigned to Violent Crimes, transferred to X-files. Partner, Scully,   
Dana Katharine. See associated file..." She shot him an impish grin. "It's just that I know   
you hate people calling you by your first name. So, a kit is a fox. You see? Makes   
sense." 

 Alex grinned. "Only to you Min. Only to you." 

 She stuck out her tongue. "Might I suggest leaving? This is not a building   
conducive to conversation. Besides, that goo is so _icky_!" 

  Mulder sighed. "My car's over there, we'll go to my hotel room." 

 Min nodded. "We have a lot to discuss, Agent Mulder. You are in grave danger." 

***

 The dark haired woman clicked her cell phone shut, and sighed. If one wanted   
something done, it seems one had best do it one's self. The Bounty Hunter had screwed   
up. Huge surprise there, those guys were not hired on for their brain capacity. So. Not   
only did she _not_ have her little niece, but Mulder and Krycek were together. A state of   
affairs she had devoutly hoped to avoid. Having one of the Fifty and his Balance together   
was, from her point of view, a very _bad_ thing. At least that brat Ivy's Balance had yet to   
show. With any luck, she would still be able to get a decent amount of damage out of her   
baby sister. If Ivy weren't a Green, and the thirteenth child at that, she would have long   
since blown up most of Chicago. As it is, she'd trashed a few Hospital rooms.   
Disappointing really. Oh well. She still had Plan B... 

***

   
 Anne leaned her head against the back seat of Mulder's rental  
car and sighed.  
She'd snuck into the car in the confusion, and no one seemed inclined  
to kick her out as of  
yet. In fact, the guy in leather was scratching her ears, and he  
was _damn_ good at it. If  
she weren't already in a committed relationship...She sighed again.  
Who was she kidding?  
She was, at the moment, four footed and furry. She was stuck. No  
help for it. She  
couldn't risk *Changing* anywhere near here. Mulder seemed the type  
of person who'd  
have absolutely no difficulties in believing in Lyconthropy.

 Of course, it wasn't as if her alternate ego, Ai, were as much of a secret as she   
would like. Ray Kowalski, Fraser, Dief, and Ivy all knew that she had a tendency to grow   
extra hair at night. However, she'd just as soon that the information leak stopped there... 

 They had an awful time talking her into the motel room though. It amused her no   
end. Finally, the kid had to pull a mind whammy on them. None of these people were as   
persuasive and charming as Fraser. Nor had they the benefit of the nice red uniform... 

 Min calmly shut the door behind them, and then all hell broke loose. She wasn't   
sure what precisely was going on, being totally unacquainted with everyone concerned,   
but apparently there was some kind of bad blood between the FBI agents and the guy in   
black leather. This was made apparent by the way that both agents drew weaponry and   
pointed it at him. The child, who had been leaning against the door, moved _very_ quickly   
and interposed herself between the agents and the other guy. 

 "Put the guns away, agents." Anne had to blink at the tone of voice the child used.   
And she had thought the kid sounded nasty with the goo-guy. That voice was _cold_!   
You could've broken icicles off her words, and her expression was not much warmer. 

 The guy in leather blinked in surprise, and looked as if he were about to warn the   
kid off. She didn't even turn around, she just held her hand up in a silencing gesture. "If   
you could take care of yourself around Mulder, you'd have a _lot_ fewer contusions to   
your name. Your finely tuned survival sense is evidently rather deficient when it comes to   
ex-partners, Alex." Her eyes narrowed. "Agent Scully, Agent Mulder, if you do not put   
your guns away _now_, I will bounce you off the ceiling until some _sense_ gets driven   
through your thick skulls! Have I made myself perfectly clear?" 

 Anne blinked. Agent Mulder's feet were hovering a few inches off the ground, and   
he was looking only slightly startled. She had to admire the man's moxie. _She'd_ have   
flipped out! 

 The weapons were carefully placed back in their holsters, and Mulder's feet once   
more made contact with terra firma. The child took a deep breath and sighed. "Okay.   
Now, might I suggest we all sit down and have a little chat? It would be nice to know just   
_what_ the hell is going on, here." 

 Anne nodded to herself. She had to admit that she was pretty damn curious right   
about now. Apparently agents Mulder and Scully led an interesting life. And coming from   
a were-wolf, the word 'interesting' _meant_ something! 

 The girl got them all settled in the hotel room, she and the guy in the spiffy leather   
jacket sat on the small couch, Mulder sat on the bed opposite, with Scully perched on the   
room's only chair. Anne sat herself down in the middle, trying not to choose sides. Not   
until she knew which side was what, any way. 

 She listened quitely as Agent Mulder explained how they'd ended up in Chicago.   
Starting with Ivy's collapse, and ending with Mulder finding Krycek in her hospital room.   
She would have raised an eyebrow if wolves had them. Mulder's body language was   
practically radiating tension. Anne grinned a doggy grin. 'I wonder what he _isn't_ telling   
us...' 

 Then Mulder glared at the guy in leather. "Now. What about you and your   
'partner'?" 

 He opened his mouth, an irritatingly smug grin on his face. However, before he   
could continue, the child sitting next to him produced an apple from thin air, and stuffed it   
in his mouth. The look on her face was a mix of exasperated and affectionate. "Here. You   
barely ate a thing during breakfast. You don't take very good care of yourself, Uncle   
Alex. Besides, you were about to say something infuriating and wise-ass, and that would   
only make this situation worse." 

 She smiled charmingly at the two agents. "You see, Alex was working for my   
mother, and then mom's boss decided that with you two in danger, she wanted one of you   
where she could keep an eye on you. And quite frankly, Alex was the better choice. But   
he didn't take his 'guest' role too well, and I wanted _out_ of that house. So, I helped him   
escape on the condition he take me with him. It's worked quite well so far." 

 The child frowned. "But this case of yours worries me a little. This woman seems   
to be exhibiting some major signs of psyonic overload. If something isn't done, we could   
end up having some _serious_ Acts of God demolishing most of Illinois! What's her   
name?" 

 "Ivy Green." 

 The child's mouth dropped open in pure shock. "Ivy Green. _Ivy_! _Green_?!" 

 "Umm, yes?" 

 Min blinked bemusedly. "Green eyes, black hair, hyper-active as hell, has a   
roommate named Anne?" 

 Now Anne was staring in shock at the child as well as the two agents. Mulder   
nodded. "Yes. You know her?" 

 Min sighed. "She's my aunt. The one mom says is a fruit-cake." The child's   
expression went from weary to very worried. "But she _is_ trained. She shouldn't be   
experiencing overload. That mostly occurs in untrained adults, those who've come into   
their powers late. Greens are trained from practically _birth_! I'm only _six_, and I'm   
trained enough that I won't overload." 

 Mulder was eyeing the child with bemused fascination. "Overload?" 

 She nodded absently. "The random discharge of stored psychic energy caused by   
the back-log of stimuli. Generally associated with the young and the untrained. In the   
young, a harmless release of psionic pressure. However, in large amounts it can be   
hazardous, or even fatal. But aunt Ivy _shouldn't_ be having this problem! She's   
_trained_! One of the first things we learn is how to shield so that we don't build _up_   
that back-log of stimuli! This makes no sense!" 

 The child leapt up and begain to pace. Anne vacated her place in the middle of   
floor for fear of her tail getting stepped on, and moved to curl up near the guy in leather.   
If nothing else, he could _really_ scratch ears well... 

 The man looked thoughtful. "Min? Why would one of..._them_...be interested in   
you?" 

 The child stopped pacing and gave him a beffuddled look. "Huh? 'Them'? Who do   
you mean?" 

 He rolled his eyes. "Shapeshifter?" 

 "Oh! Hi-i-im!" She shrugged. "Dunno. Why? Do you think it's important?" 

 She took one look at his expression and started to make pacifying gestures. "Okay,   
okay. I'm thinking about it. Geeze! Sometimes you have no sense of humor..." 

 The child flopped herself onto the floor and stared at the ceiling. There was silence   
for a few moments. Then the kid sat up. "I have no idea. How'd you and Kit find me?" 

 Mulder sighed. "Someone called for Krycek on my cell phone. I  presume she   
suggested some sort of ransom...?" 

 He stared at the guy in leather, presumably Krycek, as if he could get answers out   
of the guy by sheer will. Krycek simply stared back with a perfect poker face. Min walked   
up, leaned against his legs, and stared up at him with huge, teary eyes. "Uncle Alex?" 

 The man shot her an amused look. She increased the bambi eyes, and added a   
tremble to the lower lip. "Please?" 

 The man rolled his eyes at her. "You don't really think that will work on me, do   
you?" 

 She grinned up at him. "You're talking..." 

 He sighed. "I don't know who she is. She called and said she had Min, and if I   
wanted her alive, I should go to that warehouse. That's all." 

 Anne sighed. He was lying. She could tell by his scent. However, his expression   
was as sincere as one could hope for. This guy was good! 

 Min was staring at him, a frown line between her brows. "Hmm. Why you? Who   
would kidnap me to get to you? We haven't been associated for more than a few weeks. It   
would be more reasonable to call my mother, or grandmother, or even one of my   
aunts...Why you?" 

 She pushed herself off of Krycek's legs, leapt up, and began to pace again. "I   
know that mother and the Shadows were concerned about agent Mulder. There had been   
some sort of attempt on him that killed the Shadows, but left Scully unscathed." 

 Scully and Mulder perked up at this comment. "What?!" 

  Min ignored their shock."But there was also some worry about Uncle Alex. That   
means that whatever's going on, has to do with _both_ of you. Now, any ideas about who   
would be after you both?" 

 Krycek smirked. "How many hours do you have, this could be a long list..." 

 She rolled her eyes. "Right. Stupid question. You both don't lack for enemies. Let   
me see...Does anyone have a phone I could borrow?" 

 Mulder took his out, turned it on, and handed it to the child with a wry smile.   
"Help yourself." 

 "Thanks!" She busily typed in a long string of numbers, then waited. There was a   
high squealing sound from the phone, rather like a modem connecting, then silence. Min   
put the phone to her ear, and waited some more, humming absently as she did so. Then   
she started talking. Anne was perhaps the only one present who could hear both ends of   
the conversation. Having exceptional hearing was very convenient at times. 

 "Min? What's up?" 

 "Hi Morgan. I need some information." 

 "When do you not? What is it this time?" 

 "What do you know about Alex Krycek?" 

 He's cute, he's deadly, and he spent a large amount of time locked up in Ronald.   
Chamber number 1013 to be specific." 

 "Huh?" 

 *Sigh* "Missle silo #3467-58-458. The one in the North-East quadrant in North   
Dakota? Helen was doing surveillance on it when he was brought out. Then the silo was   
blown up. We were upset. Ronald was one of our favorites..." 

 "Oh yeah. Forgot. Missle Silo Fan Club. Right. You people are weird. You know   
that, right? Anyway. I need to know who's out for his head at the moment. Is the   
Insufferable Bastard after him again?" 

 "Nah. Hasn't made a move for the guy since Ronald. But someone is defiantly   
interested in our boy.... There's been a huge web sweep for him. Someone was trying to   
track down all the information on 'Alex Krycek' they could find. They even managed to   
break into _our_ system, and that takes _work_!" 

 "Hmm. Anything else?" 

 "Well, not really...." 

 "If anything else pops up, call me. I'm sure you already know the number." 

 Min clicked the phone shut, and handed it back to Mulder. "Thank you. Uncle   
Alex? Someone's been looking for you. And it _isn't_ your old boss for once. Even the   
Insufferable Bastard doesn't care _that_ much about you." She gave him an apologetic   
look. "No offense meant." 

 He blinked, looking surprised. Whether at the idea of someone caring about him,   
or because Min apologized for the statement, it was impossible to tell. "None taken." 

 Scully sighed. "Min? How do you know so much about Mulder?" 

 The child flinched a little under the woman's suspicious look. "Umm, well.... He's   
everyone's favorite feebie! I can name you at least four or five different 'groups' and   
'organizations' that keep him under constant surveillance. My Grandmother's among   
them. He's like a barometer for secrets and wierd stuff. Where he goes, so goeth trouble.   
Everyone knows that. Grandmother has some sort of special interest in him." 

 "Why?" 

 The child looked frustrated and irritated. "How the hell should I know? I'm a six   
year old. I'm lucky to know as much as I do! It's not like I was told every top-secret thing   
that was going on, you know! I had to work to get the crumbs I have!" 

 Scully checked her watch. "Well, we're not going to get anything more tonight.   
It's late, or more accurately, _early_,  and I for one need sleep. I suggest we get some   
rest, and tackle this in the morning." 

 Anne stood up, and walked over to settle herself at Scully's feet. Sleep sounded   
good to her. Besides, she had to get somewhere private and change back into her human   
shape before the moon set or she'd get stuck like this for a whole day. She had an idea   
that one of the first things that they were going to do in the morning was look for her. It   
would probably be good if she made it easy for them to _find_ her. 

 Min looked stubborn. "I'm not leaving Uncle Alex alone. Someone's trying to hurt   
him. Besides, he gets nightmares and I don't trust _you_ to take care of him." She glared   
molten death at Mulder, who blinked bemusedly. However, to Anne's surprise, he agreed.   
The last thing she heard before the door shut behind Scully and herself was, "And   
someone let that poor dog outside." 

 Anne grinned to herself. She wasn't sure, but she might get to like that kid. If she   
didn't kill her first...   
    
                                                                    ***   
  

 It was dark. Not the friendly, soft darkness that makes a person feel warm and   
safe. This was an angry darkness, hard, rasping, and razor-edged. She hated this darkness. 

It brought the memories. The pain. The dreams. She could never escape it, the darkness   
hunted her down. From room to room, city to city, year to year. She could never escape it   
because she brought it with her. It was the darkness behind her own eyelids. 

 Every time she slept, she felt it. Every time she dreamt, it was there. Every time   
she closed her eyes it was lurking. A screen on which played the worst memory of her life.   
In a few short seconds, all she loved, all she knew, all that was most important to her was   
destroyed. 

_It was sunny. She remembered clearly the heat beating down on her head with the_   
_force of a lead pipe. There was a wind, rustling the leaves of the surrounding woods._   
_They sounded like whispering children, the words just barely out of hearing's reach._ __

_The sun. It's light glittered and splashed through the boughs, casting a dappled golden sheen_   
_across the ground. It chased itself around the green, green grass. It danced in the_   
_blue-green water. It played in the emerald eyes of her mother. It caused the blood that_   
_splashed the ground to glint like rubies. Her life. Her soul. Her twin. Rent from her, torn_   
_from her. And her mother...Her mother's eyes staring into her heart. The expression in_   
_them full of too many things for her to process. Bitterness, weariness, anger, betrayal,_   
_sorrow, sympathy, love, hate...or was that in her _own_ eyes? Perhaps they were one and_   
_the same. For she had learned. _They_ had learned, and that was too dangerous. They_   
_had learned too much, and they had to be silenced, stopped, undone, unmade._ __

_The Queen had brought them into the world, and now she was going to remove_   
_them. And this was her right wasn't it? NO! It wasn't! She had _taken_ from her_   
_something that was inseparable from herself. She would win. She would WIN! She would_   
_make. Her. Sorry._ __

_Her mother stepped forward, and the sunlight glinted from her hands like blazing_   
_fire. Then the pain begain. The pain of having what one _IS_ twisted, altered, reversed,_   
_erased. But through it all, she clung to the thought. She would win. She would win. She_   
_would win..._

 Then the darkness was shattered as green eyes opened, and glared balefully up at   
the motel room's ceiling. She _would_ win. For what she had lost. For what had been   
taken from her. She would win. The Queen of Secrets would pay. Her mother would feel   
loss, as she had. She. Would. Win. 

***

 Mulder sighed. What the hell was he thinking? Why did he insist  
that all of them  
had to stick together? Well, to be honest, the _kid_ had insisted,  
but he hadn't put up that  
much of a fight about it. Rather sweet how protective the kid was  
of Krycek. As if he  
weren't _more_ than capable of taking care of himself...

 He sighed, stared at the flickering light cast by the silent television, and brooded.   
Being in the same room as Krycek was bad. He'd been getting enough in the way of wierd   
ideas lately. Before the dreams, his emotions toward Krycek had been comfortingly   
familiar. Anger, betrayal, suspicion... 

 // But what about all the _other_ emotions, eh? The one's you've always been too   
afraid to name? What about those? You can't keep them as far hidden now, can you? Not   
with your dreams dredging them up every time you sleep...// 

 Mulder scowled at the mocking, internal voice. Even his own subconscious was   
against him! He turned to look at his uninvited 'guests'. 

  Krycek was sacked out on the bed. In his sleep, when the weary, hunted look in   
his eyes was hidden, he looked as young and innocent as the child sleeping next to him.   
More so. Min, even asleep, projected mischief like an aura. 

 He sighed. With Min snuggled up against the man as if he were an overgrown   
teddybear, it was very hard to summon up the usual anger and suspicion he felt towards   
Krycek. In fact, Mulder had to throttle down the urge to get up and brush the man's hair   
out of his face. He clenched his hands around the arm rests of his chair. Yes, letting them   
stay in his room had been a _really_ bad idea. But somehow, when the kid stared at him   
with those eyes of hers, he couldn't really say 'no'. No child should have eyes that old. 

 Mulder slipped into sleep, visions of ancient eyed children and angelic assassins   
flitting through his mind. 

 He snapped into wakefulness at a sound. It wasn't a loud noise, but something   
about it caused his subconscious to fix on it. Eyes closed, he listened. It was the wind. 

 But there was something strange about it. It wasn't the normal whistling rustle.   
The wind truly sounded as if it were whispering. He could almost pick out words...Then   
the wind was answered. 

 Min's voice, a slight childish thread of sound, barely louder than the wind itself   
was speaking, her tone holding a dull hopelessness. "What do you want me to do? I can't   
stop her. I can't force them. I can't do anything. You should have picked my mother. Or   
one of my aunts. I'm just a child. What use am I to you? So far, I've caused more trouble   
than I've solved." 

 The wind picked up volume, the hissing, chuckling sound brushing across his ears,   
leaving behind an impression of meaning. If words could be distilled to their essential   
meanings, this is what would be left. It said simply 'help'. 

 "But I can't _do_ anything. I can't help!" 

 Mulder could feel the brush of warmth as a gentle breeze seemed to swirl around   
the room. It *shushed* around Min, who was standing in the center of the small hotel   
room, flannel pj's an odd contrast to the otherworldly glow around her. 

 "Don't try and comfort me. It doesn't help. She's going to kill them. And I won't   
be able to stop her. You could, but you aren't here! What should I _do_?! Please help me!   
Please?" 

 The wind picked up pace, the Bible on the bedstead slammed open, the pages   
fluttering madly. Krycek woke with a start, and stared, wide eyed in front of him. Min's   
braid lashed like cat's tail, and she was crying, despairing sobs that seemed to tear   
themselves from her throat. Mulder watched as Krycek's gaze locked on something in the   
mirror he and Min were both facing, shock painting itself across his features. He then leapt   
forward, and grabbed Min by the shoulders. "Wake up! Min! Wake up!" 

 The wind seemed to sigh, and Mulder was forced to close his eyes and hold his   
breath as it sped past him and exited through the open window. Min's sobs changed, less   
heart broken, and more afraid. Mulder opened his eyes to see the child clinging to Krycek   
and crying. He watched in shock as the Rat-bastard, the Betrayer, the man who was at the   
very least a triple agent, rocked the child back and forth, making soothing sounds and   
apparently murmuring in Russian. 

 Mulder shook his head wonderingly. Maybe the man wasn't as heartless as he   
appeared... "So what was that all about?" 

 Krycek looked up, his eyes locking on to Mulder's. The deep green was almost   
totally eclipsed by black. The man looked shocked out of his mind. Mulder was up and   
next to them in moments. "What? What did you see?" 

 Krycek sighed, and sat down on the edge of the bed, settling Min comfortably. The   
child was falling back asleep, the sobbing disintegrating into the occasional hiccough.   
Krycek stared into the mirror before him, as if his reflection had answers he didn't. Mulder   
was getting more curious than ever. 

 "What made you wake her up? What did you see?" 

 The other man pointed into the mirror. "Her reflection." 

 "What about it?" 

 Krycek opened his mouth to answer, then stopped. Mulder watched a series of   
emotions cross his face, too quickly to be readily identified. Krycek shrugged. "There was   
a Green. Only not any of them that I've met." 

 Mulder was certain that there was more to it than that, but had learned by now that   
he was more likely to get Scully believing in unicorns than to get Krycek to spit out a   
straight answer. He sighed and sat down next to Krycek. "Has this happened before?" 

 Krycek shrugged. "Not that I know of, but I've never actually been in the same   
room with her while she's sleeping. I don't know." 

 Both men fell silent, staring at the small child, curled trustingly against Krycek's   
chest. 

***

 Alex woke up slowly. Normally, taking his time in the transition  
from sleep to  
wakefulness would have been leathal, but for some reason, he felt  
perfectly safe. He  
sighed and stretched, and froze as he realized that he wasn't alone  
in the bed, and that the  
other person was way to _large_ to be Min.

 He cracked his eyes open to find himself wrapped up with a sleeping Mulder. Who   
would have thought he was the snuggle type? Alex was lucky he didn't have a heart attack   
right then. As if last night hadn't been enough of a shock to his system, now he was faced   
with this. Most people look peaceful when they slept, but not Mulder. His expression was,   
at the moment, faintly irate. Alex repressed the urge to laugh. Mulder was incapable of   
being like 'most people', even asleep. 

 He blinked as the quiet strains of morning cartoons reached his ears. He turned his   
head, carefully so as not to wake the other man, and saw Min sitting in front of the   
television on which played 'The New Adventures of Johnny Quest'. Somehow, the choice   
didn't surprise him. Min was staring at him and grinning like a maniac. There wasn't so   
much as a shadowy trace of last night's events in her expression. 

 "I woke up in an FBI sandwich. You two looked so cute I decided not to wake   
you up. But if I were you, I'd get out of there before he wakes up. I don't want to have to   
float him into the ceiling to keep him from hitting you." 

 Alex made a face at her, but carefully extracted himself from the bed without   
waking the agent up. After all, Mulder needed as much sleep as he could get. 

 He stared at Min for a few moments. Then went and sat down beside her. He was   
worried. When he'd looked into that mirror, and seen a shadowy figure standing behind   
her reflection, he'd been worried, but not terrified. Stranger things had happened since   
he'd started working for Greens. But then, the shadow had started to melt into the child. 

The twinkle of mischief that made Min..._Min_...had vanished from her eyes. Her   
eyes...they'd turned the same deep green as her mother's. As his. Shadows, magic, and   
even talking wind, he was prepared to accept, but he liked the kid far too much to let her   
get taken over by some kind of _other_. And he was rather sensitive on the subject of   
possession anyway. 

 "Are you okay, kid?" 

 She blinked. "Yes. Why wouldn't I be?" 

 "You had a nightmare last night. Do you remember?" 

 A frown formed as she thought. "There...there was somebody. She was asking for   
help. She couldn't do it alone." 

 "Do what?" 

 Min opened and closed her mouth a few times, and then shook her head. "Don't   
know. But she was worried. And afraid. And very, very sad...." She sighed, and stared   
absently into space for a few moments. Then her irrepressible grin was back. "So, do you   
want breakfast? I've got a sickeningly sweet cereal in the cupboard." 

 He raised an eyebrow. "Mulder has cereal?" 

 "Nope. But you'd be surprised what the room service lady'll do for a guy who   
looks like Mulder. 'Specially when he has a cute kid." The mischievous twinkle in her eye   
made him laugh. 

 "Sure kid. Cereal it is. So, catch Animaniacs yet?" 

 "Funny you should mention that..." 

 The two went off to gain a morning sugar buzz, discussing the merits of Saturday   
Morning cartoons. 

***

 For some reason, he felt _really_ good when he woke up. Mulder lay in bed,   
considering the unusual fact that he had slept soundly with no nightmares. It was almost as   
unusual as what had happened to Min last night. And thinking of Min... 

 Mulder scanned the room, surprised to find both Min and Krycek watching   
cartoons. They were both laying on the floor in front of the TV, eating cereal that looked   
like it could rot his teeth from where he was. Min was laughing and looked way too   
cheerful for someone who had fallen asleep hysterical. 

 Kryceks eye's were laughing back as he finished his story. "...so then she looks at   
me and says: 'It's _amazing_ how much they look alike!'" 

 Min was wiping tears of mirth from her eyes. "Oh God! You know as many   
interesting people as my Aunt Ivy!" 

 She sobered abruptly. "Alex? We need to fix Aunt Ivy. She's only going to get   
worse and soon, someone's going to get hurt." 

 Alex...That is, _Krycek_, nodded seriously. "Do you have any idea what could   
have triggered this? Any at all?" 

 "No. Aunt Ivy dosen't really make enemies. Not like you and Kit there. _He_   
needs to get rescued by his partner on a bi-weekly basis." 

 Mulder sighed. "Gee. Thanks kid. Your confidence is uplifting." 

 She blinked at him. "Well, _I'm_ not the one keeps drooping his gun. Have you   
ever thought of the benefits of Velcro, Mulder?" 

 Alex snickered, earning a glare from Mulder and a whap from Min. "Don't   
aggravate things, smart-ass. You can be _so_ irritating sometimes, Uncle Alex." But she   
was grinning at him as she said it. 

 Alex shrugged at her, unrepentant. "We should probably talk with her roommate,   
see if she was doing anything interesting before she collapsed." 

 "Works for me. I'll just trot next door and see if Scully's awake..." 

 She slipped out of the room, and both men could hear her knocking on Scully's   
door across the hall. Mulder stared at Krycek, and the man stared back. Suddenly the   
room seemed far to small and hot, and the air was full of tension. Mulder took a deep   
breath, and prayed that Min would return quickly. Avoiding eye-contact with the man, he   
asked, "So, what was last night all about? Does she remember...?" 

 "No." 

 "And...?" 

 Silence. Mulder risked a glance at the man. Krycek was shifting around on the   
floor looking slightly uncomfortable. Which was in itself odd. Usually, he was hard   
pressed to read _any_ emotion from the triple-agent. Now, here he was radiating   
discomfort like light. It made Mulder _very_ suspicious. He suspected that Krycek was   
doing it on purpose for some reason of his own. "Kry-cek..." 

 The man almost flinched at the anger in Mulder's tone. "_What_?" 

 "What? Did? You? See? Last? Night?" 

 The man sighed. "It was like...like she was being possessed. Her eyes changed   
color. They were green, like mine or her aunt's. I...I couldn't let that happen to her." 

 Mulder flinched at the anger and pain he could read in the man's eyes. He tilted his   
head, and realized... "It's happened to you. You've been possessed." 

 Krycek laughed bitterly. "Yeah. A couple of times. My assignments seem to get   
me into situations where something else feels borrowing my body is a good idea." 

 Mulder was shocked as he suddenly figured out something that had been nagging   
at him. "That's why you gave up the DAT tape! It wasn't _you_! I was on a plane with   
that damn thing for _hours_...?!" 

 Krycek smiled wryly. "The irony of the situation escaped neither of us, I assure   
you." 

 The sound of the door opening cut the conversation off. Min entered, followed by   
Scully. "Got her. We need to plan. Both your lives and my Aunt's depend on what we do   
next." 

***

 Anne sighed and took it from the top. "I told you, I don't know much about Ivy's   
past. Min probably knows more than I do." 

 Min shrugged. "Not really. She ditched the family right before I was born, so I've   
never met her face to face. I chat with her on-line, send the occasional card. She sent me   
all six tapes of my favorite anime for my birthday. Other than that..." 

 Anne rubbed at the ache that was forming at her temples. She had liked these   
people better when they though she was a dog. Maybe she shouldn't have been so quick   
to change back... "The only majorly different thing she did recently was visit her brother in   
California. That's it." 

 Min blinked. "Which one?" 

 Anne stared at her for a minute. "She has more than one? Umm, I think she called   
him 'Xander'..." 

 Min raised an eyebrow. "According to Grandmother's secretary, they hate each   
other. Why would she vist?" 

 Anne shrugged. "Don't know. She got a call from his roomate that asked her to   
come down. No explanation that _I_ knew of. She went. Then, while she was gone, the   
world turned upside down. To make a long story short, it turns out that one of the cops   
we were friends with was someone else entirely. He was pretending to be who we thought   
he was, only the guy who he wasn't showed up and queered the whole deal. Then got   
shot. Then the guy who wasn't who we thought went off with the Mountie and my   
boyfriend into the frozen armpit of the north after the bad guy. Then, the guy who was   
who we thought the other guy was ran off with the other guy's ex-wife. Then the guy we   
thought was the guy who turned out to be someone else and the Mountie and my   
boyfriend all stayed for a vacation. Then Ivy came back, and was really upset about how   
she leaves for five days, and everything goes to hell. Then, two days after she gets back,   
she collapses. That's the whole story in a nutshell." 

 Anne blinked at the dumbfounded looks she was receiving. "What?! I know it   
sounds like something out of a daytime soap, but other than that, what was so weird about   
my explanation?" 

 Min shook her head. "If you explained it that way to aunt Ivy, it's a wonder she   
didn't collapse earlier..." 

 Anne made a disgusted look at the kid, but before she could let loose with the   
scathing reply she had planned, her cell phone rang. She cursed. If that was her boss, she   
was going to do violence unto _somebody_! "What?!!" 

 There was a moment of surprised silence, then Benton Fraser's voice came over   
the line. "Anne? Are you all right?" 

 "Fraser?! I thought you and Ray...er, Stanley...were off looking for   
whats-his-name's hand?" 

 "Ray was having a 'bad feeling'. He insisted we return. We are at the airport   
now..." 

 "Don't go anywhere! We'll pick you up! Things have gone to hell, and I think we   
could use your help." 

 Anne clicked her phone shut, and suppressed the urge to do a happy dance. Where   
Fraser went, so went Diefenbaker, and she had missed him horribly. She grinned at the   
four puzzled people staring at her. "We need to go to the airport. Some friends of mine   
have just got back... 

***

 Stanley Ray Kowalski was worried. Not surprising, he'd been having intense   
feelings of nebulous dread for days now. Then, two nights ago, Fraser had found him   
waking south in his sleep. According to Frase, he'd been heading straight for Chicago. So,   
home again, home again. 

 The adventure wasn't really as much fun as he had hoped, anyways. Baker was   
moping 'cause Anne wasn't with them, Fraser had taking Veccio's running off with Stella   
badly, and Ray had found himself thinking of Ivy a lot more than was probably good for   
him. One of the first things he'd tried to do was call her at Anne's apartment, but there'd   
been no answer. Diefenbaker had supplied Anne's cell-phone number. There were times he   
thanked God he knew about Baker being one of the People. Being a were-wolf explained   
a _lot_ of things about Fraser's wolf that had confused him. How he'd managed to teach   
himself to lip read, among others... 

 Now, Fraser said that Anne was going to 'pick them up' at the airport, which   
would be difficult, since neither she or Ivy owned a car. Something was wrong. Really,   
really wrong. And Ray had a horrible feeling that it involved Ivy. Not a huge intuitive leap,   
most of the bad things that had happened lately happened to Ivy. She seemed to attract   
trouble like a magnet. 

 Baker, who had been leaning against a wall, trying to look casual, and failing   
utterly, suddenly snapped his head up and grinned. "Here she comes." 

 Ray raised an eyebrow. "You could separate her scent from the rest of the airport?   
Wow, you're _so_ gone..." 

 The were-wolf wrinkled his nose at Ray. "_You're_ one to talk..." 

 Before he could continue, he was glommed by a crying Anne. She was speaking so   
quickly that Ray couldn't understand her, and he had a feeling she wasn't speaking English   
anyway. He and Fraser instead spent their time examining the four people watching the   
reunion with varied reactions. There was a tall brown haired man and a very lovely auburn   
haired woman, who were unfortunately sending out 'FBI' vibes like all get out. They just   
watched with bemused expressions. Then there was a tall, black haired man, who's vivid   
green eyes held no expression what so ever. He was tense, and seemed to be directing all   
his attention at the passing crowd. Then there was a small, brown-haired child. She was   
grinning at the two were-wolves like the whole reunion were her idea. 

 He frowned. No Ivy. "Anne? Where's Ivy?" 

 Anne, without removing her face from the crook of Baker's shoulder, sniffled out   
a broken answer. "She...after you left...sick...hospital...FBI...someone's trying to kill   
'em...and, and, and..." 

 Ray made a calming gesture. "Woah now. Calm down." He cast an exasperated   
look at the four strangers. "I don't suppose that _you_ lot could tell me what she's   
babbling about? Honestly. I leave for a couple of days, and everything goes to hell!" 

 Right about then, Anne's cell phone rang again. Anne wiggled around so she could   
reach her pocket without leaving Baker's arms. "Hollows?" 

 "Mz. Hollows?" 

 She blinked. "Who is this?" 

 "My name is Cicily, Mz. Hollows. I'm with the MSFC? We have that information   
you requested. It will be delivered to you. I hope this helps Ivy. And watch out,   
someone's about to start shooting at you." 

 Just as the line disconnected, Alex broke off his scanning of the crowd, grabbed   
Mulder, and dragged him behind cover with a shout. "Down!" 

 The group scattered at the first bullet. Min and Kowalski grabbed Fraser. Baker   
and Anne dove for cover, and Scully joined Alex and Mulder. 

 Kowalski was understandably confused. "What the _hell_ is going on here?!"   
 Min shrugged at him. "It's a long story. He's over there." The child pointed, and   
promptly slunk off in that direction. The cop stared after her in shock. "What the Hell? Is   
she crazy?!" 

 Fraser sighed, and headed off after the child, with a "Cover me Ray." 

  He sighed. "Once, just once. I'd like to say 'Cover me Fraser'." Then he was far   
too busy trying to keep them all alive to think about it. 

 Apparently, Min and Fraser weren't the only ones with ideas, because by the time   
they reached the shooter's hiding place, they found a disgusted Alex, a confused Mulder   
and Baker. However, the shooter had vanished. 

***

 Anne sighed, and leaned back in the uncomfortable hospital chair.  
Baker gently  
placed a hand on her shoulder, and she smiled gratefully at him for  
the comfort. It had  
been declared that nothing more would be learned at the airport,  
and they had headed off  
for the hospital to check on Ivy. Ray, Mulder, and Scully were in  
there with her now, and  
the rest of the group was sitting in the waiting room.

 Krycek was _not_ happy about being separated from Mulder when people were   
shooting at them. He had placed himself outside the door of Ivy's hospital room and   
refused to be moved. 

 Fraser was speaking softly with Min, who was apparently explaining everything to   
him as best she could. And she was just sitting quietly next to Baker, enjoying the   
presence of the man she loved. 

 She cast him a look and spoke softly. "If you ever do something like this again, I   
will put silver dust in your coffee some morning." 

 He grinned at her and spoke in the slightly flat voice that was the result of his   
deafness. "Nah. You  love me too much to kill me. I wouldn't put it past you to maim me   
a little though..." 

 "I'm serious. Don't leave me like that again. Next time Fraser goes haring off into   
the wilds, take me with you. I'm your Mate. Leaving me behind isn't kosher, and   
Tradition backs me up on that!" 

 He sighed, and nodded. "It's just, well, everything happened so _fast_! Within   
about twelve hours, Ray was back, Ray was shot, and Fraser and the _other_ Ray were off   
and running...And then Thatcher and Turnball wanted me to help them find the other two,   
and all of this happened before you came in for afternoon shift! I mean, what do you think   
I should have done?" 

 She sighed. "You could have called. I had to find out from _Frannie_! No one else   
even thought to inform me!" 

 He gave her a truly adorable repentant look that was normally only seen on a   
puppy that had just eaten the new sneakers. She sighed. "Nevermind. I'm too happy to   
have you back to work up a really good 'mad'. But we are going to talk about your   
tendency to run off with your friends without telling me..." 

 "Yes Dear." 

 She laughed. "Don't start, you." 

 Both of them snapped to attention at the approach of a unfamiliar scent. It wasn't   
one of the hospital staff, they smelled very distinctly of medicine, cleaners, and recycled   
air. This smell was somehow...electrical. Like ozone, or the air before a storm. Or a good   
sized Best Buy. 

 It was a young woman. She was brunette, with gray eyes that were covered with a   
pair of thick glasses. She was wearing jeans and a T-shirt that read 'Just because you think   
everyone is out to get you, doesn't mean you're wrong...' and a battered pair of sandals.   
She was also carrying a thickly stuffed manila folder. 

 She stopped in front of Anne. "Mz. Hollows? This is for you." 

 Min was suddenly in front of them. "Morgan? What are you doing here?" 

 She shrugged. "I'm the PR Manager. I'm the only one who is publicly associated   
with the MSFC. It's an okay job if you ignore the whole car-bomb thing..." 

 She grinned at them. "I hope this helps. I have to go now..." 

 The girl slipped off through the doors, leaving a confused Anne holding a file and   
blinking. Min smirked. "The female version of the Lone Gunmen. But their newsletter   
looks cuter." 

 At the confused looks that the two were-wolves sent her she shrugged. "What?   
They're girls, they worry about that sort of thing..."   
  

***

 Mulder stood beside his partner, and watched the blond man who had introduced   
himself as 'Ray Kowalski' hover over Ivy Green. It was obvious that the two were a   
couple. He was sitting by her bedside, holding the unconscious woman's hand, and   
speaking quietly. Scully was hovering near the mass of machinery in the corner, noting   
read-outs. She was casting odd looks at the bed, and then back at the read-outs. 

 He leaned over and spoke softly, so as not to startle the man at the bedside.   
"Something interesting, Scully?" 

 "Mulder. Her readings have changed. They've gone from practically non-existant   
to common sleep patterns." 

 He blinked. You mean she's cured?" 

 Scully shook her head. "That's just it Mulder, the change occurred the instant   
Detective Kowalski took her hand." 

 Mulder blinked at her for a few moments, absorbing this new information. "Would   
you theorize the Detective has something to do with her recovery?" 

 "I don't know, Mulder. It _has_ been proven that people in deep comas can hear   
the voices of those around them..." 

 Mulder grinned at her. "There's an easy way to find out..." 

 Scaly blinked. "Mulder what...?" 

 Her question was cut off as Mulder turned from the read-outs. "Detective   
Kowalski? Could you come here for a moment? Dr. Scully has something here that you   
should see..." 

 The man blinked up at them, seeming startled that they were still in the room. He   
stared for a few moments, then nodded. He leaned over, spoke a few more words into the   
dark haired woman's ear, and released her hand. Mulder could hear Scale's gasp the   
instant the man's hand left Green's. He repressed a smirk. He was certain that he was   
right. Somehow, this man's presence kept Green's 'overload' under control. 

 The man stepped up beside him. "Yeah?" 

 "Detective? We..." 

 There was a knock at the door, and Min stuck her head in, ignoring the scowling   
Krycek behind her. "Agents? Detective? We have something out here that you should look   
at. Anne called some of Ivy's wierd computer friends for help, and they've just come   
through with a mother-load of info. We could use Dr. Scully's help with some of the more   
esoteric medical terminology..." 

 Mulder nodded. "Thanks Min." He cast a glance at the blond man. "Detective?   
Would you rather stay here?" 

 The man gazed at him steadily, searching his eyes for something. He evidently   
found it, because he nodded. "Yeah. I would. I'd feel...better...if Ivers weren't left alone   
right now. Thanks." 

 Mulder nodded, gently placed a hand in the small of Scully's back, and herded her   
from the room. She gave him the 'Mulder, I can walk on my own' look, but tolerated it   
anyway. 

 He grinned at her. "So, was I right?" 

 She raised an eyebrow at him. "About what?" 

 He sighed. She was going to make him work for this. "Did her reading change   
again when Kowalski let go of her hand?" 

 Scully sighed and nodded. "There was a return to the low activity readings, yes.   
But that does _not_ mean that..." 

 "He somehow counter acts the 'overload' that Min spoke of?" 

 "There's no real proof that this was caused by anything other than..." 

 "Oh come on Scully! Something amazing is happening here!" 

 Min's soft voice came from the waiting room doorway. "You don't know the half   
of it, Agent." 

 Mulder blinked at the child. She was pale as a ghost, and stared up at him   
wide-eyed and frightened. He felt a slow chill down his spine. Anything that could frighten   
_this_ child, he was worried over. "What is it?" 

 "We can't discuss it here. Alex, Fraser, and Anne went for the car. We're meeting   
them at the door. This...this is bad." 

 The child made her way, rather unsteadily towards the blond man who had been   
introduced as Baker. He placed a supporting hand on her shoulder, and began to steer the   
child to the door. 

 He spoke, in a rather flat voice, over his shoulder. "Are you coming?" 

 The agents exchanged glances, and followed in the man's wake.   
  

***

 Mulder sighed. "Okay Min. What did you find?" 

 The child was curled up in a ball on the couch of Anne's apartment. She was   
rocking back and forth slightly, and looked scared out of her wits. "It's...Okay. I'm going   
to have to give you a bit of history here. Scully can find all the corroborating information   
in those files." 

 She took a deep breath. "This attempt is not the first one that _They_ have made   
to colonize this world. They tried once, many thousands of years ago. My family made a   
sort of...weapon. They genetically altered humans so that, when activated, their ESP and   
psychic skills were phenomenally higher. They planned to use these humans to fight the   
aliens. And it worked. The aliens left, or they died, or were forced into hibernation,   
respectively." 

 Anne was staring wide-eyed at the child. "The _old_ stories.... The Flaming   
times..." 

 Min nodded. "Right. The only problem was that the 'weapons' wouldn't turn off.   
They kept on fighting things that only they could see. Unfortunately, as Mulder has   
already learned from the Eves, enhancing human traits usually enhances things like   
paranoia and psychosis. So, the world was faced with a half dozen insane people, who just   
happened to have enough power to vaporize large chunks of the planet." 

 She shuddered. "Those were horrible times. Times that every human remembers in   
their collective, instinctual memory. There were entire oceans moved from one place to   
another. Whole countries sank beneath the sea, mountains rose from plains, fires raged   
and continents froze. My family, realizing that this was their fault and thus their problem   
to fix, stopped the 'weapons'." 

 She glanced about the room. "That is, by the way, a euphemism for 'Killed them   
quickly and without mercy' just in case you're wondering." 

 She went back to lacing her fingers into intricate patterns and determinedly   
avoiding everyone's eyes. "But the Queen of Secrets wasn't willing to let go of the   
project. She was certain that the aliens would try again and she wanted some kind of ace   
in the hole to stop them. So, she set her MedCo teams looking for a way to 'stabilize' the   
enhanced humans. The project was tabled until such a method could be found." 

 Min gestured to the thick pile of papers in Scully's hands. "As near as I can tell,   
that's what those are about. About eighty years ago, the project was re-started. A method   
was found. A way to 'Balance' out the instability caused by enhancement." 

 She stared up at Mulder. "And my Aunt Ivy is one of them. She's been activated.   
That's why she was experiencing psionic overload. She had been trained for our normal   
levels of ESP, not the vast amount she now has to control." 

 The young woman looked up, tears in her eyes. "Unless we can find her 'Balance',   
it will be my duty as a Green to save us from her." 

 The tears spilled into sobs. "I'll have to kill her." 

 Mulder shook his head. "Not necessarily. Not yet. We learned something just   
before you came to tell us about the delivery. When Kowalski is near her, within touching   
distance, her readings go from abnormal to basic sleep patterns. Basically, she goes from   
'comatose' to 'dozing'. So we have at the very least a stop-gap measure." 

 Min blinked. "That, that's what a 'Balance' is! According to the records that the   
MSFC got from my aunt's computer, a 'Balance' is a genetically engineered counter point   
to the 'activated' test-subject! Yin to their Yang. A complete emotional and psychic   
compliment to them. A person who was made to keep the subject sane and alive!   
Detective Kowalski must be aunt Ivy's Balance! Cool!" 

 The grinning child leapt up, grabbed Mulder by his ears, and kissed him with a   
loud *smack*. "Bless you! That's a _huge_ relief! I've never had to kill a family member   
before and I wasn't looking forward to it!" 

 While Mulder blinked bemusedly at the exuberant child, Fraser asked a question   
that had been weighing on his mind. "Excuse me miss, but how much genetic manipulation   
does your family do?" 

 Min smiled sheepishly. "Well, what can I say? Some women knit, Grandmother   
tinkers with evolution. Everyone needs a hobby...." 

 Her sheepish smile turned into a beaming grin. "Now, we need to find out how   
aunt Ivy became 'activated'. Acording to those records, a chemical trigger is required to   
stimulate certain neurotransmitters into being emitted. Who managed to trigger Ivy? And   
how did they do it? Any suggestions?" 

 Anne frowned. "Hmm. Well, easiest would have been to slip it into her food or   
drink. Do you know whether it has to be injected directly into her blood stream, or can it   
be ingested.... 

 Everyone settled back, and begain to brain-storm. They needed to find the culprit,   
and quickly. They all could feel that time was running out. 

***

 Agnes Nitch, age Eighty-seven, had been having a horrid day. All the young   
people these days had no respect for their elders! The checkers at the grocery store had   
been rude, the young man at the video store had ignored her totally, and she'd had to   
stand at the bus stop because a young couple had staked out the bench as a make-out   
spot! And since the bus was totally full, she was probably going to have to stand here as   
well! 

 She blinked in surprise as a black haired young woman, carrying a large black   
duffel, smiled sweetly at her and stood. "Here. You can have my seat. There's plenty of   
room for your bags." 

 Agnes beamed her gratitude at the woman. "Thank you young lady! You're such a   
kind child!" 

 If Anges could have heard the woman's thoughts, she would not have been so   
quick to praise her consideration.... 

 Winter Green hissed furiously through her false smile and tugged fitfully at the   
duffel's strap. The shooting attempt had failed, as she could have told them it would had   
they asked her. Not that they ever would, smug idiots! That damn smoking bastard was   
trying to stop the Queen's plans as well, but he didn't know what he was doing! Not the   
way she did. She had been her mother's right hand before that damn Beryl had been born! 

She knew the way her mother thought! She knew that there would have been Shadows in   
place to keep the Chosen Fifty safe. Of _course_ they would have located and killed the   
sniper before he could be found and awkward questions got asked. 

 She smiled smugly. However, the fiasco at the airport had taught her something   
useful. She now knew that her 'Plan' would work much better! She had discovered that   
she had access to a person on the inside! She had control over someone they trusted! She   
was going to kill them. Destroy her mother's damn 'weapons' and you would stop her   
little scheme! The Queen would suffer as she had suffered, in pain and humiliation! She   
would see the despair in her mother's eyes before she killed her! 

 Winter Green exited the bus smiling serenely, her eyes blazing with cold insanity.   
She had waited two hundred years for this day, and soon...soon justice would be done! 

***

 Mulder was worried. For some reason, ever since he'd heard the word 'Balance',   
he'd had a nagging sense that he was overlooking something. He searched through his   
mental roll-a-dex, but nothing was coming up. His preoccupation caused his focus on   
conversation around him to be somewhat fuzzy. He absently listened in on Scully, who   
was theorizing on the method by which the 'trigger' chemical had been administered. 

 "....would have to be some sort of injection. These notes make it quite clear that   
the drug needs to be introduced to the blood stream near the brain, as it lasts a _very_   
short time before disintegrating into water and trace elements. It would have had to reach   
the brain within about a minute after injection if it were going to work." 

 Anne's voice next. "So, someone had to have injected it into her bloodstream. Do   
the notes say how long it takes for the trigger to take effect? If it's long term, I might have   
been around when it was administered...." 

 Min answered. "The notes don't say. It's possible that the drug is instantaneous, or   
it could take as long as a month for the transmitters to build up enough of a concentration   
to cause the overload. I don't know exactly. It's not like it's been done recently, or   
anything." 

 Fraser to Anne. "Ms. Hollows? Did Ms. Green act odd in any way after her return   
from California?" 

  "I don't know. I was called back home by my baby sister. Evidently, one of my   
sibs fell very ill, and we were standing death watch over his bed. Luckily he got well about   
six days later, but by the time I got back, Ivy was in the hospital, and things were already   
bad." 

 Mulder noticed out of the corner of his eye that Min was scowling. "I would bet   
that your brother's illness wasn't accidental! Whoever this was made sure she had no   
protection. Ivy had ordered the Shadows not to interfere with her life, Fraser, Ray, and   
Ray were gone. Even Anne and Baker were removed. Whoever planned this neatly cut all   
aunt Ivy's supports out from under her, and then attacked. A pin-point operation. Damn   
it!" 

 Mulder frowned, something in Min's sentence bringing to mind an image.   
Pin-point.... _The sharp sting of a dart in his neck, the burn of fire in his veins, and a_   
_woman's mocking laughter_.... 

 "Not a pin, a dart." 

 Everyone stared at Mulder, surprised at the sudden break in his silence. Scully,   
more used to Mulder's odd moods, simply asked, "What do you mean, Mulder?" 

 "She used a dart to inject the trigger. Like using a tranquilizer." 

 Min stared wide-eyed. "Of course! That only makes sense! Mulder, I will never   
listen to my mother's grumbling about you again!" 

 Mulder blinked.  'What does she say about me that the kid.... No, I probably don't   
want to know!' He shook off the thought, just in time to catch Ale...Krycek's piercing   
look. "Why do you say 'She'?" 

 Mulder blinked. That was a good question, even if it _was_ from Krycek. Where   
had that memory come from? He frowned as he tracked the thought down. It was the   
dream. The dream he'd had yesterday morning. He was _not_ going to discuss _that_ in   
front of a bunch of strangers. He'd hesitate to discuss that with Scully and he _trusted_   
her! 

 Mulder shrugged. "Don't know. Must be one of those subconscious things." 

 Min nodded. "Yeah. You do that a _lot_ according to your file. Cool. So, a   
woman, with the dart, in the records room." 

 Fraser looked up from Mulder's case file, which he'd been reading during the   
conversation. "Outside the records room, actually." 

 She sighed and shook her head. "Constable, you're as bad as Grandmother's   
Shadows. Far too literal." 

 Anne shrugged. "It's rather endearing once you get used to it. Baker can be the   
same way." 

 Her Mate shot her a sarcastic look. "Gee. Thanks." 

 Krycek's husky voice broke through the following chuckles. "Now what? We still   
don't know who did this." 

 Min frowned. "What I don't understand is who managed to do this? I mean, the   
MSFC wouldn't even have been able to get this stuff if I hadn't have given them certain   
pass-words a long time ago as a favor." She paused. "And to tick off my mother, of   
course. But _who_ would have been able to gather all this information from my   
Grandmother's files, _without_ her finding out about it?! I mean, Grandmother's little club   
is even more shadowy than the ones you three feebies fight. Or occasionally work for,   
respectively." 

 Anne shrugged. "They have someone on the inside?" 

 Min looked wry. "Who? There are the Shadows, Grandmother's secretary Cat, a   
Cook, and we Greens. That's it. The Cook has no access to information what-so-ever, Cat   
doesn't have access to the higher classified information, and most of the Greens are told   
things on a 'need-to-know' basis. With Grandmother deciding who 'needs'. The only one   
besides Grandma who'd know about something like _this_ would be Mother and aunt   
Hunter. And Hunter's information would be about a decade or so out-of-date." 

 Mulder frowned. "Hunter Green? Librarian? Rainier University?" 

 Min nodded. "Yeah. She found morality and retired from 'Player-dom' along with   
aunt Ivy. She used to be Grandma's left hand though. She _would_ have information, if   
out-of-date information, on this project." 

 Mulder tried to match his image of Hunter Green with the woman in his dream.   
Though he could see the family resemblance, the Greens tended to be very much 'of a   
type', he was certain they weren't the same person. He shook his head. "No. Not Hunter.   
What about your mother?" 

 Min scowled. "She's Grandma's loyal lap dog. She doesn't say 'boo' without   
Gran's permission. Besides, she's probably still assigned to finding Uncle Alex and I." 

 "Your Grandmother?" 

 Min sighed. "Who knows. Sabotaging her own program when she could just order   
it discarded? She's a little weird, but...." 

 Mulder was still trying to match a name to the woman in his dreams. "How many   
aunts and uncles do you have, Min?" 

 She frowned and started to count off on her fingers. "Well, I know that there are   
thirteen, 'cause Ivy's listed as 'Thirteenth born from the ship' in DECE's memory banks.   
Let's see. In order from youngest to oldest, it would be...Ivy, Alexander, Hunter, Peridot,   
Jade, Beryl, Summer, Leaf, Sea, Forrest, Emerald, and Namiran. Namiran was born before   
we became 'Greens', so she missed out on the puns, lucky. Of course, everyone listed   
after mom is dead, so maybe not lucky after all...." 

 Fraser frowned. "Miss, that is only twelve people." 

 Min blinked in surprise. "No. I learned those names since before I could walk!   
Besides, it's not like they're hard to remember! I'm sure that's all of them!" 

 The child started counting them out, and froze in shock when they ended at   
twelve. "That's not right. DECE says there are thirteen born beyond the ship. She dosen't   
make mistakes. She can have her memory erased, but she doesn't make mistakes. And that   
would just make her say that the name of one of the children is 'unknown'. I don't like   
this. I don't like this at _all_!" 

 Fraser tilted his head thoughtfully. "You said that only a Green could have   
information on this subject. Perhaps the unknown Green is our suspect?" 

 Anne nodded slowly. "It would make sense. Whoever this is, she has had her   
existence totally obliterated from history and memory. That would tick me off, just a bit....   
Certainly I'd want a little bit of revenge." 

 Min's eyes widened. "And Ivy and Ray are alone at the hospital!" 

 Things were rather simple after that. Fraser and Baker were both off and running.   
Through the window. The other occupants of the room blinked in shock. Anne shrugged a   
little. "They do that all the time. You learn to get used to it." She paused a few moments.   
"And keep the windows open." 

 Min tugged on Alex's sleeve. "We need to get there too! Aunt Ivy isn't safe   
alone!" 

 Mulder frowned a little. He had the strangest feeling that it wasn't _Ivy_ that was   
in trouble....a dark figure sprawled in a pool of blood.... Mulder shook his head, dispelling   
the thought. It wasn't important, it was just a dream, and why would he care if Krycek   
were killed, anyways! 

 //Who are you trying to convince, here Mulder....?// 

 He was starting to hate that inner voice....   
  

***

 Alex frowned and stuck close to Mulder as they headed to the car. He had a _bad_   
feeling. Someone was watching them. He was certain of it. He hadn't managed to live this   
long by ignoring his instincts. "Mulder..." 

 The man paused and gave him a questioning look. "What?" 

 "There's...." 

 He _felt_ the moment that the dart left the gun, he could swear he did. He grabbed   
Mulder, yanked him out of the way, and tucked himself around the man as a shield. There   
was no cover near enough for him to use. The dart *pinged* off the street next to him,   
and landed a short distance away. He called out, "She's here!" 

 Scully and Anne had taken cover behind their own car, and Min was tucked   
between the front steps and the building. A small space, but she was tiny enough to fit it. 

 Min glared at the empty building across the street. "Come out! We know you're   
there! Show yourself, aunt!" 

 There was a short period of silence, then a woman stepped out onto the street.   
"Hello little one. How's your dear mother lately?" 

 The child stepped out of her shelter to stand, glaring, before the two men. "I don't   
know. I never see her. Who are you? Why are you doing this?!" 

 The womans pleasant expression fractured, showing insane hatred through the   
cracks. "You don't know me, do you? My name has been removed from the records,   
erased from history! My thread has been taken from Fate's tapestry, and without a second   
thought!" 

 The woman raised the tranquilizer gun in her hand. "But I'm going to make things   
right again. I'm going to save you all from her. You'll be safe, and she will _pay_ for what   
she's done!" 

 Min blinked, confused. "Who? Who will pay? What is your name?" 

 "You won't remember. She made sure of that. No one will remember. I tried to   
talk to your mother, and she would look right through me. Like I was a ghost. I'M NOT   
DEAD!!" 

 Min flinched back, bumping into Alex, who was striving to keep between Mulder   
and the unknown Geen. If she was going to hurt Mulder, she'd have to do so over his   
dead body. Unfortunately, he had the feeling that she was perfectly willing to do that. 

 Min was advancing on the woman slowly. "I see you. I hear you. You aren't dead.   
I know you're there." 

 The child was keeping her voice conversational and quiet. "What is your name? I'll   
remember. What is it? You can tell me. I know you're there." 

 The woman stared at the child, a glint in her eye that was _really_ worrying Alex.   
If he'd dared, he'd have called a warning, but he didn't want to set the woman off again.   
Min was on her own, and he could only hope she knew what she was doing. 

 "My name? Winter. My name is Winter." 

 Min stopped dead, a blank look on her face. She started to speak, as if reciting, all   
animation gone from her tone. It was the same voice he'd heard that night she'd almost   
been possessed. 

 "Winter. Sixth born from the ship. Summer Green's twin sister." 

 The woman flinched at the name 'Summer', emitting a sorrowful keening sound. 

"They _killed_ her. Because _I_ found out! I learned the truth about us! The truth about   
her 'Plans'! I knew what she truly intended, and she killed us both for that! She needed   
children who were ignorant of the truth. Who would do her bidding without question.   
That she could manipulate like little puppets! When I learned, when I told...we had to be   
killed to preserve the Plan!" 

 Alex was worried. Min wasn't moving, wasn't reacting. There was something   
wrong. He frantically looked for someway to escape this situation, and saw nothing. He   
was going to have to fight. Damn. His hand crept into his jacket, and he slowly and   
carefully pulled out his gun. Now to wait until he had a clear shot.... 

 The woman's face now bore an expression of insane joy. "But she failed. I didn't   
die. I'm still here. I will win. She made us to play the game, but I'll beat her at it! I will!   
She will pay for what she's done." 

 The look turned sly as she grinned at the still child. "And do you want to know   
how? I know something you don't know, little one. I know that you are a tool. We are all   
tools. But I know how to use you...." She pointed at Alex with her free hand. "Kill him." 

 Alex watched as the small child started to back up. "What.... I'm not going to!   
You can't force me!" 

 He forced himself to stay still, waiting. Min needed to move a little more, she was   
still obscuring his shot. 

 The woman smirked. "Can't I?" She calmly started speaking, what sounded like a   
string of non-sense to Alex, but Min was flinching with each word. The child's movements   
became jerky, as if she were losing control of her own body. Alex had a _really_ bad   
feeling about this...! 

 Winter's smiled benevolently at Alex. "You can't protect him. Not enough. He'll   
be someone's weapon, no matter what you do. You have to be saved. Blood to blood.   
That's the way...." 

 She waved her free hand, and Min turned to match the gesture. Her face was   
absolutely blank, and she stared at Alex and Mulder without recognition. Winter nodded. 

"You see. He'd end up like that. A tool, a weapon. You don't want that, do you? No, you   
don't. Min? Save them." 

 The child was moving steadily forward, and Alex braced himself, gun ready. He   
_really_ didn't want to kill Min, but if he could just...disable her a little.... He couldn't let   
Mulder get hurt! 

 Mulder placed a hand on Alex's, pushing the barrel of the gun down. He had an   
absent look on his face, as he took the weapon and clicked the safety on. "Wait just a   
minute. Help is coming." 

 Alex glared. He wasn't sure he even wanted to know why Mulder thought that!   
"What the hell do you think it's going to be able to do about...." 

 He was forced to stop talking, as he was almost knocked over by the wind that   
suddenly swirled around the street. It *shushed* through the spaces between the buildings,   
blew rubbish about like dead leaves, and swirled in faster and faster circles around Min.   
Whose blue eyes were slowly turning green. 

 The wind seemed to form itself into the outline of a woman. A ghostly figure that   
obscured all of the possessed child but her eyes. Those burned through the figure, cold   
emerald fire, and focused on Alex. He flinched away from those eyes. Their gaze felt like a   
grenade exploding inside his head. Memories he didn't understand, and could barely   
process exploded outwards and fragmented, becoming so much emotional shrapnel. 

 Winter screamed, a long wail that held nothing of sanity and everything of hatred   
and loss. The phantom woman, and by extension the child she possessed, turned to face   
the vengeful Green. 

 "Winter." The voice was Min's, but seemed freeze the air around her. Alex   
imagined he could see the ground around the child frosting over. She stepped forward,   
advancing on the woman, who had dropped the dart gun and was backing slowly away.   
Winter was staring into the space the phantom woman's eyes would be, had she had any,   
with all the fascination of a small bird facing a snake. 

 Her lips moved, shaping soundless words. Alex flinched as Mulder's hand clenched   
around his arm. "Alex! That's the sister! Summer Green!" 

 "Winter." The tone was sharp and chastising. "How could you even _think_ about   
doing this?! It is our duty to protect them, and you try and destroy them?!" 

 The woman numbly shook her head. "S-s-summer? I didn't...I wasn't.... I just   
wanted to save them! They would have ended up as we did! She would use them for her   
Plans! Make them do _horrible_ things! I didn't want them to end up like us! Merciful   
death. Not the pain you and your children endured before you died! Not the pathetic   
half-life she banished me to! I just want to save them." 

 "I won't let you hurt them." 

 The phantom woman was standing right before Winter, who was shivering   
violently. Alex was just as glad that she'd dropped the gun. Winter was shaking her head,   
a look of tortured betrayal in her eyes. "How could you protect them? They're her   
weapons! They shall end the world more surely than I ever could!" 

 "Or save it. Either way, it is not our place to judge." 

 "Summer! She killed you. Killed your husband, your children! How can you let her   
go unpunished?!" 

 "I don't. She will reap as she has sown. Be betrayed for her betrayals. Hurt for her   
hurting. But not by us." 

 The sharp tone vanished from her voice. "You should not be here any longer,   
sister. Mother was unjustly cruel to let you live on like this. Don't you wish to rest?" 

 Winter nodded slowly. "Yes.... But, but, who will punish the Queen? She has done   
to much, hurt to many...." 

 The phantom had no expression that Alex could see, but he could somehow _feel_   
her smug smile. "She shall be punished. By blood of blood, and bone of bone...." 

 Winter stared at her ghostly sister. "Who...?" 

 The smug feeling turned proud. "My son shall lead them." 

 Winter's eyes turned huge. "Your.... Not dead? They aren't dead?" 

 The insanity gentled in Winter's glittering gaze. She stepped forward and   
embraced the phantom woman. Some instinct within Alex told him that it would be good   
to make as small a target as possible. He dragged Mulder beneath himself, and did his best   
to protect his head. There was a loud noise, like the sonic boom a jet makes, and a blast of   
cold so severe that it put swirly frost patterns on the building ten or fifteen feet away. 

 Then it was over. 

 Alex turned cautiously, ice and frost shattering from his jacket as he moved. 

Winter Green lay dead at the feet of the phantom woman. Who was staring at him.   
 Mulder moved to stand next to him, curious as to what was going on. "What...." 

 He froze along with Alex when the phantom moved towards them. Without really   
thinking, Alex moved so that he stood between her and Mulder. She moved until she   
stood directly before him. She had no clear features, but he knew she was smiling at him.   
A ghostly hand came up and touched his cheek. And everything went white. 

***

 Anne wasn't sure what the hell was going on. First, Min starts acting wonky, then   
the two boys did, then suddenly the insane chick hugs thin air and dies. And she wasn't   
sure at _all_ where that blast of frost came from.... 

 Now, the wind that Anne had started to take for granted since things went from   
'just dangerous' to 'damn insane' was picking up until it was a raging, screaming force   
that threatened to tip the car she and Scully were using as cover onto them. 

  For a moment it was a tornado of movement that sucked the air from all who   
watched. Min arched backwards, her face a rictus of pain and froze, mouth open in a silent   
scream, as the world seemed to blur around her. Then the wind rushed upward, making a   
huge clapping sound as a vacuum was created in it's wake. For the space of a minute or   
so, Min stayed frozen like an exotic statue, then the child collapsed into a heap. 

 Scully hesitantly picked her way from their shelter to the still form. She knelt and   
examined her. "She's alive, but unconscious. We should get her to a hospital..." 

 Anne, who had followed, pulled out her cell phone and called 911\. While she was   
talking, Scully checked out her partner and Krycek. Mulder had managed to get out of the   
death grip Krycek had on his coat, and was blinking into the other man's still face. 

"Scully? What do you  make of this?" 

 "What is it?" 

 "He froze when the...umm, well, _she_ touched him. Considering that's what   
killed Winter Green, the fact that he isn't moving, or even blinking, is worrying..." 

 Scully looked him over. "Hmm. This is odd..." 

 He waited impatiently for more information, but none seemed forthcoming.   
"Scully? Isn't being mysterious and irritating _my_ role in the group dynamic?" 

 She shot him a faintly amused look. "He's in some sort of shock. I have no idea   
why. For that matter, I'm not entirely certain what just happened..." 

 Anne, who had finished her call and joined them, shrugged. "Min was possessed.   
That much was kind obvious. Other than that, I'm not very clear either. I have a feeling   
that you two saw a whole lot more than we did...Now, let's wake him up shall we?" 

 She gave Krycek a critical look, then scanned the ground until she found a good   
sized stick. She grinned at Mulder. "Hold still, I have an idea." 

 Without warning, she swung the stick directly at Mulder. 

 He yelped a little in shock, but before he could even dodge, Krycek had Anne in a   
choke hold. She promptly dropped the stick, and grinned rather pointedly. She managed to   
gasp out, "I thought that would work. Krycek? Just trying to wake you up. Honest! Let   
go?" She shot Mulder a faintly panicked look. Suffocation was _not_ her favorite way to   
die. Actually, she didn't _have_ a favorite way to die, and she was starting to black out.... 

"Mulder?! Help?!" 

 He shrugged, looking rather unsure of what she was expecting from him. The   
idiot. If he hadn't managed to figure that out yet.... Even while slowly asphyxiating, she   
had to put up with the obliviousness of humans. Sometimes she wondered why she   
bothered..... 

 Mulder placed a hesitant hand on the leather encased arm holding her off the   
ground.  "Krycek? Hello? You can let her go now..." 

 The blank green eyes blinked at him, and personality once more took up residence   
behind them. "Huh?" 

 He looked down at Anne, appearing rather surprised to find himself choking   
someone half to death. He cautiously let go, and Anne collapsed to her knees, gasping in   
air. "Oh. Umm, sorry." 

 She waved her hands in a 'Don't mention it, no worries' kind of way. And once   
she'd caught her breath back, muttered, "Don't worry. I knew that something like that   
would happen. Lucky you didn't shoot me, actually." 

 He shrugged. "Mulder still has my gun." 

 She grinned. "Do you blame me if I say I'm glad?" 

 He shook his head, still looking faintly bewildered, but much more his normal self   
than before. She would have said more, but then the ambulances arrived, and things got   
chaotic for a while.   
  

***

 Scully sighed. She should be used to things like this by now. While Alex, Anne,   
and Min were all being examined by the medical staff at Mercy General, she and Mulder   
had been attempting to secure Winter Green's body. According to everyone who'd been at   
the scene, there had _been_ no body. The frost that coated the street, cars, and buildings   
in a forty foot radius was swiftly melting away, along with anything resembling evidence. 

The files they had left in Anne's apartment were gone. All medical records on the now   
recovering Ivy Green seem to have been replaced with new ones that diagnosed an   
uncommon form of epilepsy. The only thing Mulder had was the dart that Winter Green   
had fired at him to substantiate his claims. 

 She sighed. To say he was displeased would be an understatement. She   
understood, too. She should be used to this happening by now, but it still upset her to   
_know_ how close they were to learning the truth, only to have the metaphorical ground   
vanish beneath them. 

 So, now they were in Ivy Green's room, now in Recovery instead of Intensive   
Care, summarizing events as best they could for Constable Fraser, Mr. Baker, and   
Detective Kowalski. 

 Mulder explained his theory; that Min had been possessed by the spirit of their   
assailant's dead sister, and Scully gave her's; that some sort of specialized weapon was   
used by Winter's former employers to stop her before she damaged their efforts. 

 Anne looked at the three and smiled. "Remember when we first met?" 

 All three men nodded slowly. She grinned. "It was kinda like that." 

 Kowalski held his hands up defensively and shook his head. "No way. Don't   
wanna know. That was bad enough, thanks!" 

 Ivy smiled at him. "Now, now, Ray. If you hadn't have met Anne, you never   
would have met me." 

 He shook his head. "Nope. I would've met you sooner or later. Somehow. It's   
like, fated or somethin'. You're stuck with me now." 

 She smiled brilliantly up at him as Anne grinned. "She could do worse,   
oh-Ray-of-Sunshine-mine." 

 Both of them glared at her and spoke in unison. "Don't call him/me that!" 

 She smirked at her mate. "They're speaking in unison. It must be love." 

 The door opened and a nurse pushed a sulking and wheelchair bound Min through. 

The child glared. "I can walk, you know. I'm fine! You've said so yourself!" 

 The woman smiled. "Policy." 

 Scully watched as Min smiled at her aunt. "Welcome back to the world of the   
waking! Should I start girding my mental loins for the wedding? God. All of the Greens   
together in a church. Armageddon in a ugly dress." 

 Ivy sighed melodramatically. "Min! You ought to know better than that! My   
wedding would _never_ have ugly dresses." 

 The two grinned at each other, and for the first time, you could tell they were   
related. The door opened a second time, and a strange woman entered, making the room   
really _too_ crowded for your average hospital cubical. 

 The woman pushed back her green scarf and removed her sunglasses, showing a   
face almost identical to Ivy's. And she was scowling. 

 Mulder beside her groaned. "It's Green." 

 She ignored him to focus on Min. "Mint Aranthisa Kissendara Green! Do you have   
_any_ idea of how much trouble you are in?! Any idea at all?! I've been worried sick! Bad   
enough that Krycek vanishes from our _secure_ headquarters, but that you, my own   
daughter _helped_ the damn rat....!" 

 Min sighed. "Shit. Busted. I'm gone be grounded for the next millennia." 

 "You _wish_, young lady! Your Grandmother has decided that you are far too   
dangerous to have running around HQ. You have been banished from Spook Central,   
Min." 

 The child blinked incredulously. "I'm _disowned_?! So who the heck am I gonna   
live with?!" 

 "You are going to be sent to live with which ever of your aunts or uncles will put   
up with you. And as for Mr. Krycek...." 

 Her threat trailed off as she glanced around. "Where'd the rat go?" 

 Min sighed. "He's gone. I checked in on him before I came here. He vanished from   
his room before he could even be examined. You _know_ how paranoid he is...." 

 The woman shrugged, wadded through the crowd of people, grabbed her daughter   
by the hand, and dragged her towards the door, pausing before leaving to glance at her   
sister. "Oh. By the way, baby sister. He's cute. You _will_ invite us to the wedding,   
right?" 

 Then the two were gone. Ivy sighed. "I can't believe that I'm related to them. I   
can't even believe that I'm adopted, I look too damn much like a Green." 

 Scully exchanged a 'It's time for us to go' look with her partner. "It's time that we   
got back to Washington." 

 Mulder reluctantly nodded. He smiled at the group and handed Fraser a card. "You   
will contact me if anything interesting comes up, won't you?" 

 The Constable smiled politely. "Certainly." 

 Scully wondered if he heard Anne's whispered, "Over my dead body...." 

 The last thing Scully heard as they were leaving was, "You know Mz. Hollows,   
there's an old inuit story about...." 

 Unison: "Fraser? Shut up!" 

 "Understood."   
  

**The End**


End file.
